


I Hear Him Scream

by RiftRaft



Series: I Hear Him Scream Universe [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: AU, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Animal Transformation, Dragon Hiccup, Dragon!hiccup, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, IHHS, Magic, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-11 19:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 307,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4450172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiftRaft/pseuds/RiftRaft
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiccup is the first Viking to shoot down a Night Fury. Unfortunately, his incredible accomplishment has terrible consequences: becoming the beast itself. Surviving as a Viking is hard enough...is it even possible as a creature hated and feared by humans and dragons alike? Dragon!Hiccup. THERE IS NOW A SEQUEL: Echoed Songs!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

The raids were the worst part of it all.

Living near humans— _Vikings_ , as the Queen calls them—is dangerous enough as it is. They are naturally destructive creatures, after all. They kill for sport even during the bountiful summer season, they tear apart the land and carve into the very mountains to fit their needs, and they hold grudges that are rather impressive even to a dragon such as myself.

The Vikings are dangerous. Every dragon recognizes this simple truth. Yet, almost on a nightly basis, we find ourselves heading out to their islands in a desperate search for food, always trying to sate the Queen’s appetite.

I have seen dragons gored before my very eyes, their heads bludgeoned off in a single swift strike, their fire leaving their body for the last time. I have seen the celebration that ensues, the yammering in human tongue and congratulations for the first kill, or a good kill, or just any kill. I have seen helpless youths cornered and slaughtered just for the sake of killing a dragon, their bodies deemed unworthy of trophies of victory and tossed into the ocean where the gods cannot find them.

I have taken in the scent of blood, fear, and rotting meat on the battle field. The choking, chalky thickness of ash and smoke. The alarming smell of death ever-present during battle.

I have heard the nest mourning its numerous losses, the Queen rising from below to address us and tell us pretty little lies about sacrifices and honey-coated nonsense. I have heard the screams of terror and wails for mercy, the laughter that would surely follow. The sudden silence.

Indeed, the raids were truly the worst part of it all.

Although it really was hard to beat living through everything as the only sane dragon around.

The Queen appeared one day on the horizon, looking for all the world like a moving island. She took the nest by force, picking their minds apart with the strongest weapon a dragon had at their disposal: magic. So powerful was hers that she could steal a dragon’s identity and personality, forcing them to become nothing more than little helpless leaves clinging to a sturdy branch, claiming it as necessary and proper.

I was the only one who was unaffected. I have always known the reason why, of course. As a Shadow-Blender, the strongest of magic-wielders and relatively rare in the far north, I had a distinct advantage over my brethren. I had the magic to fight back, to make sure that the Queen did not control me. Rest assured, I never allowed this to slip past anyone…although I always wondered what would happen…

My best guess is that I would be forced to flee from my death. Dragons who gain enough magic, either through simple aging or learning from their elders, will often disappear if they start to question too much. The Queen can’t have some nay-sayers, now, can she? It isn’t like the thousands of other dragons who look to her with adoration and love aren’t enough.

It was with that exact attitude she had enforced on our nest that she so easily took it over, as silent and swift as death. The Queen was so loving, the Queen was so kind, the Queen was so wise—the least we can do is hunt for her, to follow her orders so we may live! And in doing so, in following that ‘law’, our nest was plummeted into famine. The Queen had about as big an appetite as anyone would expect, and by the Dragoness of the Moon, did she enforce it.

I still remember the first time she ate a dragon. As a ‘sacrifice’ so that the nest may continue to survive through that unforgiving winter.

It didn’t take long for humans to begin settling islands further and further north (or south, by the nest’s location). It took and equal amount of time for the Queen to get a bright idea: steal from the humans to keep their population under control, so that they may never hunt dragons to extinction, and keep the nest well-fed in the process. Thus, the raids were born in all of their splendid glory.

Come to think of it, it’s almost funny. The gods must have had some sort of vendetta against me, as I do not recall what I could have possibly done to earn a fate like mine, as the only dragon not afflicted by mass mind-control in a nest of thousands. For the longest time I believed that this was a test, that it was my duty as a Shadow-Blender to take down the Queen and free my nestmates! But that time had long passed, and I had come to the harsh realization that some things were simply out of my control.

And so the raids continued, and I was left alone with my thoughts, the only dragon with any power to save the others but never possessing enough strength.

* * *

On a gloomy, clouded night, I burdened myself with the task of leading a raid to one of the southern islands. It was not that I wanted to—in fact, I would rather throw myself into the ocean! But the Queen demanded a daily food offering from each dragon, and my tribemates and I had waited long enough to fulfill the wonderful little status quo.

I led the formation at its front with an admittedly inferior group of dragons—it was overly filled with both elderly and young, and most of the latter did not understand basic flight structures. Which meant that it didn’t take long for the pinpoint, neat design that I had started with to muddle up into a tactless pod of dragons, creating drag for the unlucky ones in the back.

I glanced over my wing at the hulking cluster that had once branched out from me in two straight lines and sighed. See, _this_ was why I liked smaller groups. The dragon who had been on my direct right as the second-strongest dragon and faithfully stuck to my side, an ancient Two-Walker, noticed right away.

“What is the matter, Shadow-Blender?” She asked, tipping her head aside. “Are you worried we will not find enough food for the Queen?”

“Like she even needs it…” I mumbled, only to clam up when the Two-Walker bristled and bared her teeth despite her lower status (as a Shadow-Blender, _I_ am the highest dragon, after all!). “What I meant to say is, I am worried that she will refuse the offerings we bring back to her and force us to eat them?” Oh, how the words burned.

The Two-Walker considered this and clucked her tongue. “I would not fear, Shadow-Blender. With you here, there is not much that can go wrong.”

I nodded and turned my attention forward, silently cheering to myself for such a believable lie thought up on the spot. It was one of many qualities of mine that had helped me survive “under the Queen’s control”. Dragon of the Sun, was I lucky that I had an amazing straight face.

Our flare passed on in silence for about a few more seconds, tops. Then a squabble arose from behind, making me groan in frustration. I shot a glare over my shoulder at such a display of disrespect in a Shadow-Blender’s presence—especially if said Shadow-Blender was the leader!

Luckily for me, a Flame-Skin had already taken it upon himself to intervene between the two opponents. He pushed himself between a Two-Head and a posse of Little-Biters and snarled, “Do not fight over worthless causes! You must save your energy for the island!”

The elderly, gray-scaled Two-Head snorted. “Bold words for one so young,” one head said with an upturned snout.

With an exaggerated eyeroll, I opened my wings and let myself fall back until I was just above the group. “It would do you well to listen to what he says.” I stared down my nose at both the Two-Head and the much more guilty Little-Biters. “There are times when you need to know your place. But if someone beneath you has to correct your actions, you should feel nothing but shame.”

Leaving the stricken Two-Head behind, I pulled myself back to my rightful spot in the front, the Flame-Skin close behind.

“Shadow-Blender,” he scolded. “I had the situation handled. It is expected of you not to meddle with lower affairs. Remind yourself that I am superior to you in age and magical ability—I did not need your assistance.”

Oh, ouch. And to think that I had once considered him my friend. Scrunching up my face, I hissed, “It is I who is leading this flare—not you.” _That_ certainly put him in his place, and he bowed his head just a little bit before opening his wings and taking his position _behind_ me.

The argument had taken up more time than I had intended; the familiar shape of the island had come into sight. I rose in altitudes and shouted, “We’re about to arrive! Elders, engage the Vikings and protect the young! The young must steal food while the humans are distracted! Those in between, choose which job will aid the nest the most! I will be above—if you need anything, call for me!” Spinning into a hover to face them, I said, “Understood?”

“Understood!” Came the roar of dozens melted into one voice. Smirking, I began pumping my wings to rise in altitude, taking myself high over the flare and the island. Below me, a group of elders led by a wrinkled Hum-Wing banked away. The young separated into two groups: one for the fields where the humans hoarded their sheep, and one for the humans’ nest. Each was governed by a Flame-Skin, and they each flew over to their respective spots and pulled into hovers.

For a moment, I closed my eyes and took in the peace, inhaling the sweet late spring air and just enjoying being under the Dragoness of the Moon. I flipped over, tucking my wings and legs in, and let the sound of the wind rushing past fill my ears.

Below, the elders launched the attack.

As I sheathed my teeth and filtered gas into my throat, giving off the banshee scream that was unique to a Shadow-Blender’s fire, any humans outside immediately ducked for cover like the insects they were. A large tower used to light the sky and give away where my fellow dragons were came into view, already being attacked by a Flame-Skin. With a flick of my igniter, a ball of plasma lit up the sky in a blinding blue-white starburst. A human—the King of this tribe of Vikings—screamed an order to his inferiors, jumping straight off of the tower I’d just hit.

I swerved out of sight and climbed through the air. Just off to my left, there was a group of young dragons that had somehow found themselves without any experienced dragons around to protect them. They were cornered, and needed help fast!

Luckily for them, I was just the dragon for that kind of speed.

I forced gas into my mouth, grinning at the obligatory “nightfury get down!”, and sent the explosive blast into the wooden structure. The young dragons took off after me, calling out their gratitude before flying off to a hopefully safer place.

The town was now alit with fire and chaos, allowing me to use the updraft to gain altitude. A quick scan showed that the raid was going to be one of the fast ones; those that had food were flying off, and the only ones who stayed behind were the few unfortunate dragons that had been captured. I drooped at the sight, but knew that to go down and help them would insure my own death. Some sacrifices, it turned out, were necessary.

Still, I wanted to spite those awful creatures for daring to capture a dragon like a wild animal. I was forbidden to participate directly in raids—the Queen thought myself too valuable to risk being killed at the claws of a Viking—so I flung my eyes back and forth for a target. “Come on, gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at…ah!” My target came to me as a tower positioned on a small, secluded cliff cast in shadow. Nobody was around to see the destruction, though. Oh well.

I swung down hard and used up my third shot on the tower, banking in front of the fire to admire my handiwork—

_Fwap!_

The sound was accompanied by the terrifying sensation of a coiled serpent tightening itself around my entire body, digging into my limbs! It wrestled with my wings and clamped them down, sending me plummeting! I could do nothing but roar in terror and confusion as the snake bit _down_ , scraping at my torso and wings and legs, and dragged us to the island!

I hit the ground chest first and blacked out. Blinking rapidly moments later, I gained my senses only to be greeted with the sight of the remains of a structure that had once been made of unnaturally-carved wood. The snake pulled us down into it and the world erupted in agony as thick splinters and sharpened branches dug into every single scale!

That wasn’t enough for the snake, though; with one more vengeful hiss it took us over a hill, where I rocketed into the ground and skidded deep into the soil, mercifully coming to a stop in the center of an open area in the humans’ nest.

My entire world came to an earth-shattering halt.

I had fallen.

* * *

All things considered, I was having a pretty good day.

I mean, really, I’m not sure what puts a spring in my step more than an early morning dragon raid where I, oh, I dunno, _shoot down a Night Fury!_

Nothing could keep the grin off of my face as I jumped for joy, whooping, “I hit it! Yes, I hit it!” Spinning to face Berk, I shouted, “Did anyone see that?!”

A torrent of warm air nearly scalded my backside, followed by a low growl that was more of a bone-shaking rumble than anything else. Spinning on my heel, I was faced with the sight of…a Monstrous Nightmare. Lowering my eyelids, I said, “Except for you.”

The dragon bared its teeth and _snapped_ , barely giving me time to jump out of the way! I yelped and sprinted towards the village, screaming all the while. The stupid lizard followed right at my heels, and when I looked over my shoulder, it shot a stream of molten lava right at me! Even with my sort-of fast speed and sort-of clumsy dodge out of the way, the heat alone carved a small burn into any of my skin that was exposed.

I shrieked again in a desperate attempt to gain someone’s attention, wondering where the hell they all were! We were in the middle of a dragon raid, it’s not like they decided to take a break to get a snack! I couldn’t outrun a dragon forever!

The answer to my desperate question came as a large group of people huddled around something in town center. Apparently whatever rock they were looking at was a lot more important than some teenager about to be eaten by a dragon.

“Hey!” I shouted, gaining the attention of a few of them. “A little help would be nice— _ah!_ ” My cry for help halted when foot decided to catch on something at literally the worst moment possible and I was sent sprawling to the ground. Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the bared fangs of the Nightmare, the disgusting saliva dripping down onto my cheek and neck, the big gaping hole that was slowly lighting up with fire—!

A brownish blur, a loud grunt, and a mighty force struck the Nightmare clean off the ground! It stumbled away and rose to its feet, roaring at no one other than…my father.

Oh, man. I was _so_ grounded. I could just see it on his face. It had slightly more disappointment than usual.

The dragon pawed at the ground, scraping deep gouges into the soft earth, and shot a tiny flame at my savior. Dad sidestepped it with ease, the terrible heat not even fazing him. With a sneer he held up his hammer and flung it with all his strength, hitting the Nightmare right in its forehead! The dragon fell to the ground like a sack of coal, eyes fluttering. It didn’t stay down for long; snorting, it climbed onto its hind legs, spread its wings out wide, and its entire body erupted into flames as it _thundered_ in rage!

Dad’s response was to throw a handy-dandy wagon at it.

The dragon fell over from both shock and force, its fire extinguishing and now significantly more bloodied. It spat another stream of lava at Dad that didn’t cover nearly as much ground as the previous, and a look of surprise seemed to settle in its horrible face. With a final snap of its jaws, it thrust itself into the air and flew away, leaving me on the ground and Dad standing off to the side.

Dad turned and pinned me with his special scowl that he reserved just for me. I gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, well, I hit a Night Fury!”

“ _Hiccup!_ ” Dad snapped, marching over and lifting me to my feet. “ _What_ have I told you about going out during dragon raids?!”

“I know, I know!” I said, holding my hands up. “But this time was different! It wasn’t like the others—I actually got it!”

Dad sighed, putting a hand on his forehead. “Hiccup, for the last time—“

“Eh, Stoick?” A one-legged, one-armed man interrupted us from the crowd, sauntering over and placing a hook on his shoulder. “Ye might want ta see this.”

I beamed up at my mentor. “Gobber—you must’ve seen it, right? I _told_ you it was a mild calibration issue.” Gobber merely rolled his eyes with a sly grin, pulling his reluctant childhood friend behind with him. The crowd part for them, and I just barely saw a still form lying in the center of the group. A very large, very rope-covered form.

Jogging to the gap, I couldn’t help but sigh in relief as my eyes met with the most beautiful sight I had ever seen: a downed Night Fury, all bundled up like a present. My very salvation was sitting there right in front of me. No more Hiccup the Embarrassment or Hiccup the Useless. No more being the black sheep. No more being made fun of by my peers and having people give my father sympathetic looks while they thought I wasn’t looking. In fact, maybe I could finally get a date now…

Dad and Gobber both stood at my sides, the former gaping down at the offspring of lightning and death itself that was now completely immobile under the hands of his son. He was having a tough time believing it, judging by his pale face and wide eyes—but then again, I was still having trouble with it, and _I_ was the one who captured the darn thing!

“But…how…”

Gobber smirked. “It was the darndest thing. You’d think that Thor himself had been caught, from all the screamin’ this thing was makin’. It just fell outta the sky wrapped in bolas. Saw it happen with my own eyes.”

“And I used a bola-throwing machine!” I interrupted quickly, poking a finger in the air. “I hit it right after it hit the third tower. It flew in front of the fire, and that’s when I got it.”

The crowd mumbled a bit, and someone stated, “That’s exactly when it came down here.”

Dad stared down at the unconscious dragon, with its irregular breathing and fresh wounds. He faced me and put a hand on my shoulder, disbelief coating his features. “Is it true?”

I nodded vigorously.

With a chuckle, Dad shook his head and mumbled, “And to think that the first Viking to shoot down a dragon was someone like…this.”

“You just gestured to all of me.” I rolled my eyes, and Dad laughed—he actually _laughed!_ —and gave me what he probably thought was an affectionate punch but was really actually painful and probably bruised me. “So you…believe me?” I asked, rubbing my arm and giving him a hesitant grin.

“Well, unless anyone else thinks that it wasn’t Hiccup,” Dad announced to the crowd, staring into each and every person’s eyes. Nobody spoke, everyone just as shocked as Dad was, and a wide grin settled across his jaw. Clapping a hand on my back, Dad led me towards the Night Fury and praised, “Well done, son. I knew you had it in you! And to think that I thought you were being irrational all these years!” His voice rose in excitement with each sentence, something that quickly rubbed off on me.

“I know, I told you they were great ideas!” I said, drawing a chuckle from him. We stood over the downed dragon together, the first Vikings to ever see a Night Fury and survive. I just grinned down at it, all of the doubts and feelings of guilt and inadequacy falling away, leaving me light and ready to take on the world.

Dad unsheathed his sword and handed it to me, an expectant and proud glimmer in his eyes. “You do the honors, son.”

I almost flinched away from the weapon. “Uh, what?”

Dad pressed the heavy thing into my arms, ignoring that I nearly dropped it. “Go on! Kill your first dragon! You were the one who brought it down, after all.”

“Oh! Well, if you say so…” My heart skipped a beat. Struggling to pull the sword’s handle into my hands, I stepped over to the beast’s vulnerable, exposed neck. For a second I felt pity…but no! I am a Viking! Vikings do not feel guilty over killing dragons.

I raised the sword. The Night Fury’s eyes snapped open.

* * *

Great Dragon of the Sun, you had to be kidding me.

There was no way this…this _fishbone_ was the one responsible for the snake that had flung me to the earth! How was it possible that he could control a creature so powerful?!

I had only translated some of the conversation—but it was enough to know that it was truly this puny, disgraceful slime that had dishonored me, that had shamed me! The weak runt gasped loudly under my paw after I’d pinned him and cried out for the King, but I wouldn’t let him get away so easily. I spun towards the demon and shot half a fireblast right into his midsection. Then I used the other half on the approaching humans, successfully keeping them at bay but also using up another full shot. I would either half to use more half-shots, or be very conservative.

It was just me and this idiotic human now. There was a precious moment that I had grasped in my claws…where I could do anything I wanted.

I full-toothed grin settled on my jaw. Of course, I could always kill the devil and put it out of its misery. Buuut, then again, he _had_ done the _honors_ of bringing down a Shadow-Blender. He deserved a reward, no? A little something to be remembered by?

After all, nothing hurt a human’s pride more than taking their source of honor away. What’s more, nothing turned a human’s life into a failed wreck more than guaranteeing that they _suffered._ I knew just the trick to fulfill both.

The magic that I called forth wasn’t exactly forbidden—just discouraged, as such a feat would usually kill the dragon attempting it. I was a Shadow-Blender, however; I had the magic reserves to perform the spell, and since I had wisely held my magic in all night, I had plenty to draw from. Taking a moment to draw in a deep breath, I closed my eyes.

Then opened them and slammed my paws on the human’s chest.

The magic poured from my legs into his body, the concentrated mass of power scalding everything—the human’s fake fur, his skin, even my fire-resistant scales. It poured right into the human’s chest, infiltrating deep until it came upon his soul. I clucked, baring my teeth in a wide-open grin, and forced it to _change._

The human didn’t scramble and fight like I’d expected. No, he just stopped moving altogether, his mouth open wide and gaping, yet no sounds could escape from deep within. His eyes became distant and glassy. Nothing else happened. Narrowing my eyes, I forced more magic away from his soul and to his body itself, deciding that it was much faster that way. I didn’t have all night, after all!

To my deepest approval, the change was immediate. The Viking _wailed_ with an unending misery that I had never heard before, flinging his body back and forth under my strong grip. He clawed at my scales as his furless skin began to crack, splinter…grow…

His entire form shuddered and I watched on in fascination, the draining of my magic becoming secondhand. Scales were not growing—no, they were _forming_ in likely the most painful way possible, his skin tightening in clumps in some places, leaving bloody rips where it had been drawn away and fresh flesh filling those little rivers of red. His teeth fell out all at once, dyed crimson on the edges, and his real fur popped right off of his head as if some dragon had come over and yanked it out.

His entire form began to bulge in odd places, muscles growing out of sync with each other and protruding into the open, some ripping through skin and others finding resistance against newly-formed scales that stubbornly held them inside his frail frame. The familiar sound of bones snapping—the groaning, then sudden _SNAP!_ —punctuated the air with jolting frequency, and the screams just continued coming and coming.

The human’s fake fur tore off his body when he’d outgrown them, revealing a mesh of blood, reddened skin, and shimmering scales beneath. His face contorted as the bones within rearranged themselves, becoming more angular and streamline, and the bones of horns and his new ears burst out like a sea-dragon breaching the ocean.

A loud, grinding crack splintered the air, and all at once bones burst from his shoulders and hind end, spraying blood and muscles creeping from his body to meet up after them. They quaked and hardened with scales, and from the creases of his newly-born wing bones, membranes rushed forth like a tidal wave. His now-thrashing tail received the same fate, bones pulsing out from the edges and quickly overtaken by the required flesh necessary for tailfins.

_You are being quite cruel,_ I thought all of the sudden, but shook it off. This human _deserved_ this treatment!

The transformation was near-complete. The not-so-human’s legs migrated down to their respective positions, and he grew just a little bit more…and it was done. My magic reserves were all but gone, but thank the gods, I had done it! I had completed the impossible spell!

I stepped off of him, swaying in dizziness and glancing around with a proud smirk. Unsurprisingly, the large majority of the crowd had fled for their lives, although a group of smaller Vikings close to the human’s age were standing nearby. I was ecstatic to see that the King was one of those who stayed behind; he was standing right where I’d last seen him, his puny weapon discarded on the ground, eyes glossy with tears.

“That’s right,” I said to him, flicking my eyes down at the barely-conscious Shadow-Blender I had created. For a second I studied him, frowning; he was supposed to be black like me, not brown with freckles still on his face. Shrugging in dismissal, I stated, “I can do _anything_ I want. Never forget this.”

With that, I rose into the air, pushing my exhausted wings…

…and…fell?!

I almost buckled under my own weight when I hit the center of the passageway a distance away from the King. I felt tired enough after that spell already. I suppose I overestimated my own strength. But now was not the time for that; I had to get back to the nest!

Off I went again, flapping my wings as fast as I could force them. I rose up and up and— _gah!_ It felt like something had smacked me right in the side, knocking me over midair! I was forced to fall to the ground again.

Pain settled across my body as I stood there, panting. Most of it was concentrated on my tail.

“Oh, Dragoness of the Moon,” I choked. I swung my tail over and saw that…oh, gods… _oh no!_

_I was missing a tailfin!_

I almost broke down right there in the center of the humans’ nest—but I was a calm, rational dragon, and kept the hyperventilating to a minimum. Spinning in a tight circle, I located where the nearest forest was and _sprinted._

The unnatural structures gave way to the equally uncomfortable cover of the pines, masking the open sky where I belonged, but I ran and ran until I could no longer hear the humans or the fires. The flare had already left by now—if it hadn’t, _someone_ would have gone down and helped me when I crashlanded. I was on my own.

So I ran, setting my mind on one task: I was going to find that human, and make him regret the day he ever laid his venomous eyes on me.


	2. Chapter 2

I was shaking like a leaf in a storm. I could hardly make sense of everything around me, I was still in pain, and I was horribly aware of what had happened to me.

What had happened…it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life. I had never felt so much physical and emotional pain _ever_. Both were increased tenfold when I realized that the Night Fury had escaped. I was a failure again…but this time, I was a _dragon_.

I groaned, slowly opened my eyes. I was momentarily shocked; everything was crystal-clear. Not only could I see as if it were daytime, but I could make out more details and see farther than I had ever been able to before. I even saw a few dragons flying overhead, frantically flying after the swarm that had just struck us. A few were hovering off in the distance and staring at me with mixtures of shock, awe, and horror. I repressed the urge to growl at them.

I wrinkled my nose. I could _smell_ them! In fact…I could smell a lot of things. My nose hurt at the sudden assault. I could recognize simple scents like fire, ash, wood, and sweat. But there was hundreds of other smells that I’d never even imagined until now. It was like being blind your entire life and suddenly being able to see.

My hearing was incredibly strong, too. I heard every word, even if they were whispered, as clearly as if someone had screamed them in my ear.

Slowly, I rolled over and attempted to stand up like a normal person. I got about halfway up before loosing balance and falling down onto my sore muscles, whimpering weakly. _This is a dream_ , I thought, _I_ _got knocked out or something, and this is a dream. Come on, Hiccup, wake up! Wake up!_ I attempted to sit up again, but failed again. I lay belly-down on the earth, panting. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the beginnings of hysteria come upon me.

I heard footsteps coming towards me. I cracked my eyes open. “Dad…” I weakly raised my head to look up at him. “Dad, help me. Please help me.” My eyes widened in horror when I heard that, instead of words, I was _growling_. My chest heaved, and I let out a chocked sob. “Dad?”

Dad was staring at me in absolute horror. He was tense, and only got more so when I called out to him again. He looked over his shoulder at Gobber, and for the first time in my life, Chief Stoick had no idea what to do.

I bent my elbows and started to crawl towards him, belly, wings, and tail dragging on the ground. “D-Dad. Please, help me!” I reached one massive forepaw out to grab his leg…and I realized that I didn’t have fingers anymore. I squeezed my eyes shut in pain and settled for a small little croon, hoping that the message was perceived. More like praying.

Dad flinching away from me like I was fire hurt more than the transformation. “Dad! It’s me, Hiccup! I’m Hiccup!” I cried out to him. I felt my ears and side frills flatten against my head and lowered myself on the ground, chin resting in the dirt.

He shook his head, backing away from me. “Dad…”

Dad stopped when he reached Gobber. He looked at his friend with the strangest expression I’d ever seen on him. With a pang, I realized it was sorrow. My chest constricted, and suddenly I found it hard to breath. I felt my muscles tighten in response to my emotional stress. I unwillingly pricked my ears, dread filling my every bone.

“Gobber…”

“…I…I can’t…”

_Oh GODS, no._

“We can’t leave a dragon here.”

Gobber recoiled in shock. “What? But that’s…that’s Hiccup!”

_Oh no, oh no, oh no! No! Please no! Please!_

Dad’s voice turned hard. Emotionless. “Hiccup is gone. That’s a dragon that took over his body. And we can’t let one, especially a Night Fury, get loose.”

I felt the fragile mental wall I had built up shatter into a million pieces. Dad grabbed a sword out of a nearby man’s holster. The sound of the weapon being sheaved sent shivers down my spine.

I shook my head frantically. “No! I’m Hiccup! Stop, Dad!” I sprang to my feet, swayed at the unfamiliar feeling, and crouched low. “It’s _me, **Hiccup**!_ Stop! _Stop!_ ” I continued to shake my head, staring right at him.

Dad walked towards me. His grip on the sword tightened.

I screamed bloody murder in fear. I backpedaled until I hit the torch-tower. Crouching low, I desperately pleaded with my father. “No! Please, stop! Don’t hurt me! I’m your son, Hiccup! I’m _Hiccup_!”

Someone called out, “Stoick, stop! You’re being ridiculous!”

Another yelled, “Hiccup, calm down!”

I shivered when Dad came within striking distance. His eyebrows were pulled down and his teeth were clenched even when he started to raise the sword. I stared at it, mouth agape.

A female voice I recognized reached my ears over the chaos of the situation. “Hiccup, _run_!”

I spun around and dashed away so fast that I could barely even register what had happened. I was suddenly surrounded by houses instead of a crowd of people. I let out a sorrowful wail, clenching my eyes shut. I had no idea what Dad was going to do…but exiling me? What did _I_ do wrong?

I pelted into the forest on the outskirts of Berk, the only place a human-turned-dragon could ever hide.

* * *

Once I had calmed down, I tried to assess my situation. I spoke aloud to try and help my thoughts jumble together.

“Okay, Hiccup. Take this easy. I’ve been turned into a Night Fury…but it was with magic. Magic always can be reversed, right? So, I just have to find that dragon.” I sighed. Like that would ever happen. It had run off, and was probably off of the island by now. And considering how a Night Fury had never been seen before last night, I doubt I’d be able to find another. The other dragons would probably attack me if I asked them to change me into a human, too.

I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that I had been banished. I had done the unthinkable: I had shot down a Night Fury! Even more so, I survived a direct attack from one! Why did I have to be outcasted? Why was I a traitor for trying to win my father’s approval? It wasn’t like I was willingly turned into a dragon.

I sat down and covered my eyes with my hands—no, paws. Gods, I couldn’t stop thinking that I was human. It was like adding salt to an open wound. A loud, painful reminder that my entire life was over. Shattered in a blink of an eye.

What did I do wrong?

I know that the Night Fury was angry…but wouldn’t it know the kind of burden this was? Why would a creature do such a thing? I was only trying to impress Dad. I just wanted to be a real Viking.

Now they were all probably getting a hunting party out to find me. For all I knew, they were spying on me. I wished with all my heart that I would just take a deep breath and open my eyes and I’d be back to normal. But that was nonsense. In this cruel world, there is no such thing as miracles.

I had no idea how long I moped in that spot, waiting for either a Viking or predator to take me out. What was the point? I’d never be able to fight my own people, the ones I grew up with. Even if they did hate me.

My ear twitched and I picked up the faint sound of something heavy crashing onto the ground. I lifted my head and unknowingly pricked my ears towards it.

Was it that Night Fury?

I narrowed my eyes. If that Night Fury was still on this island, then I still had a chance. I _had_ shot it down from a high speed and distance. Maybe it was sore, or even better, injured! I could corner it and force it to change me back! Then, everything would be normal, and I could just shoot it down again at the next raid.

Filled with newfound hope, I sprang to my feet and clumsily made my way towards the noise. I still hadn’t gotten the hang of walking on all-fours yet.

It didn’t take me long to realize that my wings and tail couldn’t just drag on the ground. They would bump into things or get caught in them, which was very painful, by the way. With a lot of concentration, I finally figured out how to move the muscles and managed to fold the sturdy wings and lift my muscular tail off the ground. Once I had accomplished this, I immediately recognized the change in my movement. With my tail above the ground, I was far more graceful than any Viking could hope to be, and much faster.

I scurried between tree trunks, jumped over ditches, and swerved out of the way of sinkholes. I could hear footsteps. As they got louder, I grew more and more excited. I went into a jog, tongue loping out of my mouth as I all but pranced towards the Night Fury. I could be normal again!

I burst out from behind a large bush. I crouched low and sent a glare to the evil creature that had just ruined my life.

Except…it wasn’t a Night Fury!

I recoiled in shock. So did Astrid.

She was in her typical outfit, with a blue shirt, spiked skirt, boots, and armor. I eyed her trademark double-axe warily and slowly moved my posture from aggressive to submissive. The last thing I wanted was the best teenage dragon-killer to be mad at me while I was in the body of a Night Fury.

Astrid blinked her beautiful blue eyes at me in shock. She brushed her golden hair out of her eyes, trying to pull her bangs back towards the braid that reached the small of her back. She shifted into a slightly defensive position, making me tense. We stared at each other for a tense moment.

Finally, she broke it. “Hiccup.”

Hearing her say my name like that was unbearable. It didn’t have the usual scorn or holier-than-thou attitude with it. It was sympathetic and full of pity. Her sing-song voice echoed slightly around us and I instinctively pricked my ears to pinpoint the sound.

Astrid slowly took one step towards me, mirroring my cautious look. I admired her bravery. My father had told everyone that a dragon had taken over my body. Astrid clung to every word he said, so there wasn’t really a reason for her to doubt him. But here she was, approaching a seemingly-deadly Night Fury with nothing but a measly axe to protect her. A draconic smile spread across my face and I crooned, stretching my neck out towards her.

Astrid’s axe was up in seconds. I jumped and slunk back in surprise.

It took one look at he face for me to realize that she didn’t trust me. She was trying to trick me! I bet she was going to wait for me to come within striking distance and lop my head off to put an end to my misery. Eyes wide, I spun on my feet and bolted off into the forest as fast as I could. Everything around me became a senseless blur, but that didn’t stop me from hearing one last thing from Astrid.

“Hiccup!” She called to me. I ignored her.

* * *

There is one thing that is the worst fate any dragon could ever think of.

That, my friends, is losing the ability of flight.

I roared in anger and took to the skies for the hundredth time. I tightened my wings and tried to curve myself away. But my tail, incredibly unbalanced and flailing wildly, knocked me off-course and grounded me. Again. I landed in a giant black heap of feet, wings, and a tail. Groaning, I got to work untangling myself to try and get into the air again. I had to get back to the tribe!

No Shadow-Blender should ever be dishonored like this!

I shook my body to fling the grass sticking between my scales. When I was done, I crouched low and stretched my wings out.

  
A sharp throbbing in my tail stopped me. I hissed in anger and pain and brought it towards me. The stupid thing had stopped bleeding long ago and had already scabbed over, but it was still very painful. I sat down and licked it to try and make the pain go away. It worked somewhat.

With a sigh, I let my head drop on the ground. This was hopeless. My magic was considerably low, and would be for a long time. I wouldn’t be able to fix my tail without potentially handicapping myself even further. I shuddered at the thought of losing my magic abilities, or worse, becoming mentally insane. I’d seen too many dragons attempt something they simply could not do and pay the ultimate price for it. There was no way a Shadow-Blender such as myself would be as stupid as to do that.

So, my best chance was to wait. If I stored my energy as long as I could, I would be able to heal my tail a lot sooner.

I growled, staring at it. That damn human…I hoped he was killed by his own father. There was no possible way he could escape from a crowd that big without my expertise. At least I had one comforting thought.

 _I hate Vikings,_ I thought miserably.

It was still dark out, but I knew the sun was going to rise soon. Once it did, I would probably have to retreat into a cave or hide myself in a large cluster of trees. Knowing the Vikings, they’d be swarming the forest all day long in search of me. I grimaced at the thought of having to fight off a village of angry humans carrying pointy sticks. Those weapons may seem like a joke at first, but gods, do they hurt!

My ear twitched at the sound of something soft crushing dead grass, giving out a delightful cracking sound. I held still and looked over at it. Cautiously, a little fawn stepped out into the field, sniffing at the air and swiveling its ears. It was obviously lost. The little spotted creature stamped the ground with its hoof and bounded forward once. It halted in its tracks and looked off into the distance, not even casting me a second glance.

I started to stalk towards it. I knew it would hear me charge up a blast and take off into the forest. So, I had to stick to the shadows and stay in only the tall grass. Eyes narrowed, I slid along the ground with my wings pressed against my body and my tail slightly hovering off the ground.

The deer’s neck swiveled and it looked right at me. I pounced.

The fawn let out a little yip and tried to bolt in the opposite direction. But I was too smart; I had already swerved to where I had predicted it would go and blocked its only path to safety. It bumped into my hide and stumbled back, losing its footing against the rocky ground and exposing its tiny little neck to me. I was feeling generous, so I quickly bit down on its throat for a quick death.

I sniffed the fawn’s body to check for anything out of the ordinary. When it passed my regulations, I bit into it. I devoured the meal in less than a minute, leaving only the bones, head, and a little bit of meat that would probably fill up some scavengers. I licked my teeth in satisfaction. That deer had tasted good!

My stomach rumbled loudly, demanding more food. I stood up and began to sniff the air, searching for more deer to hunt down.

I caught a very faint scent on the opposite side of the field I was at. I glided a short distance across and, crouching low, made my way into the pitch-black shelter of the woods. My ears were sticking straight up, waiting to pick up even the slightest sound. My eyes searched for any sort of tracks left behind by prey, and I inhaled deeply every few seconds.

So, it wasn’t much of a shocker when I found a herd of deer.

Rumbling in happiness and excitement, I picked up my pace. They were resting in a little creek not too far ahead, drinking as much fresh water as they could before they would have to move on. Unfortunately for them, they had decided to visit the creek for a moment too long.

I hid myself in a shadow and allowed my teeth to silently slide out of my gums. A large male, a stag, was wandering near me. I didn’t dare move a muscle.

Two more steps, one more step…just a little bit closer… _now!_

I leaped into the air, intending to the pin the stag to the ground.

At the same time, another dragon jumped out of the bushes!

We both stared at each other in shock as the deer herd scattered, prancing away in neat little jumps.

This dragon was male. He was a Shadow-Blender like me, only he wasn’t black. He had brownish-black scales and lighter spots adorning his nose, cheeks, and side frills. I stared at him curiously, sniffing the air. It took me a few seconds to realize why he looked strange, and why the scent I took in was so familiar.

The human!

My jaw all but dropped in shock. How the hell was he still alive?!

“You survived?!”

His eyes widened a fraction. “I can understand you?” He whispered, ears standing straight up.

I was surprised, too. The human’s scales were brownish, and he still had those freckles. That meant that my magic hadn’t worked all the way. But judging on this new little fact, I’d say that he was far more dragon than he was human. I must have changed all but a small part of him, so small that all it did was change his color. I growled in annoyance. “Unfortunately, you can.”

“But how?!” He wailed. “I’m not a dragon!”

I let out a long, sarcastic laugh. “Oh, but you are! And not just that…you’re a freak of a dragon! Look at your scales!” I collapsed into laughter, my mirth only growing when he made an annoyed sound.

“Shut up!” He cried, jumped out into the little clearing. His voice shook in what sounded like pain.

  
“Make me, freak.” I shot him a tooth-filled smile. Sarcasm was dripping from my voice. As long as he was still alive, I might as well torment him.

His answer wasn’t what I was expecting from such a timid little thing. Roaring in fury, loud enough to make me cringe and send a small flock of birds scattering, the Viking rushed at me. I shook off the ringing in my ears and leaped aside. He barreled right past me and into a tree, hitting his nose and forehead against it. I laughed loudly at him, raising my head and tail and pointing my chin up to the sky. “Are you really trying to fight _me_?” I taunted.

“Yes! I am!” The human-dragon growled, shaking his head furiously. He pawed at the ground with one foot and charged again with the full intent to headbutt me.

Imagine his surprise when I jumped over him! While I could not fly, I could still get pretty high into the air, and even glide short distances. His expression when I was suddenly gone was priceless. I’m sure the gods would be proud of me for giving him what he deserved.

Taking my chance, I leaped on top of him. My victim screeched and instinctively tried to throw me off, but I held fast. All I did was clamp my jaw into the spot his scruff was and tighten my grip to a death-hold, digging my claws into his skin. I stayed in that position until he tried to roll on the ground.

Perfect! His sensitive belly now exposed, I jumped off for a second and leaped onto him again, pinning him to the ground. I reared my head back, building up a fireblast that would take care of him once and for all. The high-pitched scream that signaled a Shadow-Blender’s strongest attack sounded like music to my ears. I grinned, retracted my teeth, and pursed my lips.

The Viking flapped his wings close to his body, hitting my square in the head. My concentration completely put off, the blast I had built up disappeared. While I was distracted, my enemy clawed at the base of my tail with his hind legs and leaned forward and snapped at my front two. I jumped off of him, gasping slightly.

My eyes narrowed in anger. “You will pay for that!” I screeched, spreading my wings out to their full length and rearing up on my hind legs.

The Viking made a move to scratch my stomach open. I pulled my wings in and crushed my front paws at the base of his neck when he got close to me, sending him into the ground. His entire body began to tip over from the sheer force of the impact. He cried out in agony. When his tail came with reaching distance, I grabbed him and used it to fling him aside.

The valiant little thing struggled to stand up. He backed away from me. “C-change me back,” he gasped through his pain. “Just ch-change me b-back.” His entire body was shaking and he crouched low to the ground. I towered over his skinny frame, giving him a harsh glare. “Please! Change me back!”

“Why should I,” I deadpanned, “when you just attacked me? Why should I not just,” I smirked, “punish you further?”

His ears dropped and his frills pressed tight against his head in shock. “W-what? W-w-what are you talking about?” He stood up, arching his back slightly and slowly began to walk backwards.

I casually followed after him. I heard his heart rate speed up. “Oh, nothing,” I cooed. I leaped in front of him when he turned to try and dash away. He backed up and cringed in a very humanlike way, attempting to bring a paw up to defend his face. Of course, since he was a dragon now, it only went up to his chest. I flattened my ears against my head and gave him a full-blown snarl, showing him every single one of my teeth. “Except this!”

The human let out a terrified wail. I grabbed him by the neck and pulled my head up as far as it could go, forcing him to walk with his forepaws hanging slightly above the ground. I backed up, shoving him along with me, and checked behind me for something I could throw him at. A large rock, preferably. Even a tree would do! Just something to knock the annoying little thing out.

What met my eyes was even _better_.

A gorge! There were steep rocky cliffs on all sides. A large lake filled the center, and a small cluster of trees hung off to the side. There were several cracks and small caves in there, maybe just big enough for him to fit. But I didn’t really care about that; what only mattered was the fact that this Viking was about to be pushed over a cliff that would certainly kill him.

With a mighty pull, I threw the screeching male over the edge. He flipped in the air once, saw the ground, and…!

He spread out his wings a few seconds before hitting the ground, but it was enough. Instead of hitting the ground at a bone-crushing speed, he simply landed as hard against it as my landings were when I was trying to fly earlier. He grunted loudly and held still, groaning in pain.

I growled in annoyance. How hard could it be to kill this guy?!

While he was still stunned, I began to filter gas into my mouth. I snarled loudly, the screeching of my flame rising in pitch and volume. I saw the Viking freeze under me and look up helplessly. He squeezed his eyes shut after a moment and dropped his head in solemn acceptance.

I spat out the fireball. At the same exact time, something hard and metal hit me in the side of the face, knocking it to the side! The blue-white blast screamed as it briefly flew over the gorge. Then, it hit the wall of one of the cliffs, creating a huge hole in it and sending vibrations running through the earth. I heard the scuttle of terrified animals fleeing the direct area.

“Get away from him!” A loud, feminine voice screamed. I looked over just in time to see a blonde-haired human run at me with an axe raised over her shoulder, screaming her little lungs out. My eyes widened a fraction at her sudden appearance.

Sidestepping her, I growled a warning. “Stay out of this, human! This doesn’t involve you in the least bit.”

Below me, I heard the Viking-dragon call out, “Astrid! Run!”

I looked at him in surprise. He was on his feet again, gesturing wildly to the girl to run. His eyes were the biggest I’d ever seen on a dragon and were full of fear.

The Viking girl was of importance to him? I set my eyes on her. She was shaking her head stubbornly at her grounded companion and easing into a fighting position. We locked eyes. I hissed at her and charged.

I was too fast for her to dodge. She tried to jump out of the way, but I was too quick! I grabbed her midair and flung her towards a nearby tree. To my surprise, she grabbed the bark and swung around it using only a hand. Even though her palm and fingers immediately started bleeding, it was a bit impressive. I quickly shook off the emotion, though, reminding myself that this monster had just attacked me out of nowhere. I was only ridding the world of a certain evil!

I charged up for a fireblast. She spun on her heels, fooling me into thinking she was running and making me falter. But she wasn’t! The evil girl continued on with her spin and thrust her axe at my head. I barely had enough time to duck. The familiar chopping sound of the weapon being thrown into something came up behind me. It turned slightly and flared my nostrils in surprise. The axe was sticking into a tree!

 _If that had been my head…_ I shuddered. _It would have killed me!_

The girl screamed again, sheathing a small dagger that had been on the side of her belt. I crouched low, roaring in outrage.

She swung at me. I jumped back to avoid the hit and then stepped aside to dodge another. While she was still swinging, I pulled a paw up and swiped at her chest, sending her falling onto the ground. I went to pounce on her, but she rolled away and kicked me in the cheek! While it didn’t hurt me physically, it certainly wounded my dignity. I bared my teeth at her and grabbed her foot, rising on my hind legs and spinning my body. I let her go halfway through. The Viking girl screamed until she hit the ground with a loud ‘thump’.

Panting, she got to her feet again and patted her sides in search of a weapon. Her expression slowly melted from brave anger to horrified fear when she realized that she had nothing to defend herself with. I sent her a grin, tail swishing back and forth. “Looks like I win, human,” I told her.

I doubt she understood me, but she took off running anyways. I immediately gave chase, ignoring the Viking-dragon’s cries.

The girl was a lot more agile than I had expected. She ducked under things and swerved at angles a dragon as big as myself couldn’t hope to do without getting hurt. I growled in annoyance when she used this strategy again. And again. And again.

  
“Stop moving!” I demanded at the top of my lungs when I had eventually lost sight on her. Now all I could depend on was my sense of smell (which wasn’t a help; by now, she was covered in plants and smelled just like one) and hearing (how in the god’s name can a human be so quiet?!).

After awhile, I stopped, slightly out of breath. I narrowed my eyes and let out a wordless bellow of outrage. How dare a human defeat a Shadow-Blender! I would make her regret this day for the rest of her life! I made this message very clear to every living thing around me by shooting a fireball at a tree, causing it to explode and run into a bunch of other trees. I sniffed warily at the tiny fire that had started.

 _Eh, there’s some rain coming in soon. That’ll fix it_ , I reassured myself. Besides, the fire wasn’t _that_ big. It wasn’t even medium-sized!

My ears pricked at the sound of shouting voices. _Human_ shouting voices.

 _Aw, damn! I didn’t realize I was this close to their nest! They probably heard and saw that. Stupid, stupid!_ I berated myself. I slunk back as the voices started to get louder, and when they were very close, I turned and silently fled into the forest.

* * *

 I dropped to the ground, chest heaving and skin sweaty. I pushed my long hair back and rolled my sleeves up in an attempt to cool off. Rolling onto my back, I closed my eyes and thanked every single god I could think of that I was still alive and not some miserable wreck of a dragon’s breakfast.

Images of what had just happened flashed before my eyes. Finding the dragon…no, Hiccup, in the forest. Scaring him off by accident. Searching the woods until I heard him fighting the Night Fury responsible, and then defending him from it.

Why in the world was that Night Fury still around? I squeezed my eyes and clenched my teeth and fists at the thought of the demon. I bet it wanted to turn more people into dragons, or even eat Hiccup. Why else would it attack him? I wouldn’t be surprised if we Vikings found out that Night Furies would practice cannibalism. It would only add to how terrible, sickening, destructive, insane, evil, and selfish they are!

That dragon…it was a monster.

Because of _it_ , Hiccup was gone. Because Hiccup was gone, Chief Stoick was a mess!

He’d locked himself up in his house after Hiccup had run off and hadn’t come out since. To make matters worse, he wasn’t even talking to anyone! Even his best friend, Gobber, couldn’t get him to come out of his shell. It was awful. What’s a tribe to do without its leader?

The village itself had fallen deathly silent, as if the Night Fury had taken us all prisoner. People would huddle in their own groups and whisper to each other, stopping whenever an outsider came close to them. The remaining villagers were holed up in their houses, trying to work to get their minds off of what had happened.

While I don’t like Hiccup in the least bit (he’s a sorry excuse for a Viking), he did matter to Chief Stoick, no matter how much the man denied it. Anyone would go into such a shock after seeing their one and only son, albeit weak and scrawny, being transformed into a dragon right before their eyes. So, the obvious solution is to get Hiccup to come back, make amends, and possibly break the spell!

That’s why I had gone out into the forest. I repeatedly told myself that I had done it for the tribe, not Hiccup. The only thing that mattered was getting everything back to normal, or we’ll become as weak as the other tribes around us and get forced to flee our homeland.

The distant sound of something exploding pulled me out of my thoughts. I sat upright, instinctively reaching for the axe that I would never see again. Far off in the distance, within the forest, smoke was rising. I heard a faint caterwauling coming from within. Several of the brave villagers who lived close to the forest yelped in shock, grabbed the nearest weapon, and started to advance on whatever had made that happen.

I scoffed at their panicky movements. _I_ knew that it was that Night Fury throwing a hissy-fit because I’d managed to escape from it. A small smile tugged at my lips while I stood up. How many people can say that they beat a Night Fury in a game of hide-and-seek? _Deadly_ hide-and-seek, I might add.

My eyes widened in sudden realization. I had to tell someone about Hiccup! I should have told the entire village by now instead of just lying in the grass to regain energy. I cursed at myself. I should have never put my own needs before everyone else’s.

I went to head for Chief Stoick’s house, but stopped myself. Chances are there was still a big crowd around his house, and I didn’t want the entire village to go into a panic when they learned that the Night Fury that cursed Hiccup was still wandering about. Plus, I needed more information. Not just, “I saw Hiccup in the woods with another Night Fury”.

Who could I go to for information? Who could I trust not to tell anyone?

* * *

I plopped down next to Fishlegs, who was staring out his window worriedly. He hadn’t moved an inch away from it since this morning. I flipped my bangs back and forced my expression to become impassive. I was here to get information. Nothing else.

“So, u-u-uh, what is it that you want?” He asked uncertainly, glancing over at me and back out the window.

“Tell me about dragon magic.” I got right into business. No beating around the bushes for me. I needed information, and I needed it fast. “Like, how it works. Is there a way to reverse it? Can dragons do other things?”

Fishlegs stopped in his worrying and cast me a suspicious glance, showing a brave side of him that usually only came out during raids. He glanced at my hands and where I usually kept my extra dagger attached to my skull-and-bones skirt. Then he stared right into my eyes.

“You chased down that Night Fury, didn’t you.” It was a statement. I blinked several times in shock. Fishlegs was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for. I had never expected him to get it dead-on like that. I’d even come up with an alibi!

“How did you know?” I asked, genuinely impressed. ‘Brave’ Fishlegs disappeared under my admiration and was instantly replaces by timid, shy, nerdy, slightly starstruck Fishlegs. He dropped his gaze and looked out the window again, tapping his chubby fingers against the wood paneling.

I kicked him none-too-gently in the side. “I noticed that you didn’t have your axe or dagger, and you look kind of winded,” Fishlegs struggled to get out. He tapped his fingers together. “It’s not hard to figure out, considering how you were ranting earlier about the Night Fury messing everything up.”

I nodded, eyes glazing over slightly as I remembered what he was talking about. Refocusing, I told him, “Well, now that that’s in the open, can you answer my question?”

Fishlegs turned and gave me a small—very small—glare. “Astrid, you can’t go fighting a Night Fury when you haven’t even had any real training yet! It’s suicide!” He threw his arms into the air and shook his head wildly when he reached the last word. “I won’t let you!”

“Really? When did it become any of your business?” I demanded, standing up angrily. I squared my feet, raised my shoulders, and lifted my head.

“Uh, I don’t know, since you just told me?” Fishlegs shot back. Looks like brave Fishlegs has made a reappearance. “If you go, then I’ll tell everyone. It doesn’t matter if I can’t stop you, but I’m pretty sure the entire village can. And, really, Astrid, I doubt Chief Stoick wants anybody going missing in the woods right now. We need all the warriors we can get.”

His speech over, he stopped to wait for my reaction. I considered this for a moment. I’d never thought of it like that. I grimaced at the memory of the Night Fury throwing me at a tree, just barely missing my head against the trunk.

“So,” Fishlegs decided, “I’ll tell you about dragon magic. But you can’t use that knowledge anywhere. Not in the woods, not in the village, and definitely not fighting some crazed dragon with a lot of magic power. Deal?” He stuck his hand out to me.

“Deal,” I grudgingly agreed, grabbing his hand and shaking it a bit too hard.

“Alright!” Fishlegs jumped off of his bed and walked over to a desk covered in books. He shuffled them around, talking loudly to himself. “Dragon Encyclopedia, Dragon Fighting Techniques, How to Kill a Dragon, Fishing—oh! Here it is!” He grabbed a medium-thick book with a faded cover and worn pages. “The Analysis of Dragon Magic! I’ve read it, like, seven times.”

I raised an eyebrow. Hadn’t he just been scared out of his mind a few minutes ago?

Fishlegs sat down on his bed, making it creak loudly and dip under him. He opened the book to its glossary, running a finger along the runes written into the yellowing paper. I looked over his shoulder curiously. “Aha!” He exclaimed. “Magic on humans, page 45.”

He flipped through the thin paper quickly until he stopped on the designated page. I blinked at it. The page was almost completely covered in sentences. Unlike many books on dragons, there didn’t seem to be pictures. I squinted to try and see what was on the page, but Fishlegs began reading it aloud.

“Dragon magic is usually very hard to learn about it, since most captured dragons appear to be unwilling to use it when confined. On occasion, there has been times when dragons use magic to make their attacks stronger, but there is debate on that subject because—“

“Can you get to the ‘magic on people’ part?” I interrupted impatiently.

Fishlegs flinched slightly and quickly skimmed, making his finger race back and forth along the page. “Uh, here it is. Dragons have not used magic on humans very much in the past, suggesting that it is too risky for them to do it. The only known uses of dragon magic on Vikings is possessing them, or changing their general appearance.”

He stopped and looked at me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “That’s it?” He nodded. “You sure?” More nodding.

“What the hell?!” I leaped up and threw my arms into the air. “That’s the only thing we know about dragon magic?!” I paced around the room angrily, kicking at the chair that was resting by the small desk. It clattered to the floor, and I picked it up and threw it into a wall. “How are we going to fix things, then?!”

“Fix things?” Fishlegs parroted. “Astrid! We just made a deal! What were you planning on doing?”

I glared at my feet. Oh. I’d forgotten about _that_ little part. I heard him get up from his bed swiftly and walked over to me. He closed the book and set it on the dresser, picked up the chair, and set it back to where it had been before. In the awkward, tense silence, he sat down and stared at me. When I refused to speak, he sighed and murmured something about ‘stubbornness issues’.

“Astrid. You can’t possibly think you can break a Night Fury’s magic by yourself.” I looked up at him, eyebrows knitted together. “Well, you see,” Fishlegs explained, “if that dragon could change a human into a dragon, then it’s obviously incredibly powerful. How can you face something like that? Do you want to become a dragon, too?” His voice turned fearful at this.

I sighed. “I…guess you’re right,” I grudgingly admitted. I turned to him sharply and jabbed a finger at him. “But this isn’t going to be the end of this! Unlike everyone else, _I’m_ going to try and solve this! I might not have to face the Night Fury alone!”

Fishlegs rolled his eyes. “How exactly do you plan on doing that? Are you forgetting that this is a Night Fury, the only thing that any Viking has every feared, that we’re talking about? The only reasing _you’re_ going after it is because you’re too stubborn to admit defeat. Who’s going to help you?” He raised a blond eyebrow and crossed his arms.

“The rest of the gang, of course.” I replied. A plan was already formulating in my head. At Fishleg’s disbelieving snort, I added, “And you.” He gasped loudly.

“W-w-what?!” He grabbed my arm, eyes wide. “No!”

“If we can just convince that dragon that it’s outmatched,” I jerked my head towards the forest, “then we can trick it into changing Hiccup back.”

“No. Too dangerous. You don’t even _like_ Hiccup!” Fishlegs shook his head wildly and backed away from me.

I glared. “Do you want Chief Stoick to be a mess the rest of his life? No? Well, then we should probably help Hiccup.”

It was Fishleg’s turn to give me a dirty look. “You don’t even care about him! All you’re thinking about is the village’s welfare! Hiccup could die, and you wouldn’t even bat an eye at it!”

I scoffed. “That’s untrue. I just happen to like, I don’t know, living in a place that isn’t falling apart at the seams? Face it, Fishlegs, if Hiccup doesn’t come back, we’re done for! The other Vikings will find out eventually, and we’ll be attacked!”

Fishlegs fell silent again.

I was a little surprised at his accusation. Sure, I didn’t like Hiccup and had said numerous times, out of his hearing distance, that the village would be better off without him. But not like this! While Hiccup was annoying and clumsy, he had the best intentions and always tried his best, even if he ended up failing every single time. That’s why I never teased him like the others; because I could see more than they could. I respected the fact that he wasn’t trying to do everything he did on purpose. Unfortunately, Hiccup’s ambition was what got everyone into this mess. I doubted that he’d be in any shape to try and help himself right now, Chief Stoic was out of the count, and the village was scared out of its wits. That left me.

I know that basing the entire thing off of the greater good seemed ridiculous. I admit it, what happened to Hiccup was _wrong._ I wanted to help him, too. But the entire tribe was far more important than one wayward person who never did anything right. Thinking about it, though, maybe I should have told Fishlegs that part, too. He probably thought I was some goody-goody that didn’t care about anyone else, which is a lie!

“I think you should leave,” Fishlegs murmured. Crap. I _should_ have explained myself further. The exact opposite of what I had wanted just happened.

“I’m going to go tell the others,” I told Fishlegs, standing up. “I’ll see you later.”

“Mhm.”

I walked out of his house into the cool morning air. A few birds were flying overhead, swirling around each other in eccentric patterns. A few stray villagers were walking around. None of the were really doing anything. I sighed.

Now I had to find Snoutlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut. We needed to get to work.


	3. Chapter 3

So far, this has been the worst day of my life.

First, I get turned into a dragon by a crazy, borderline insane Night-Fury that apparently is too arrogant to notice his own mistakes. Second, my own father outcasted me for something I did not do. What fun! Third, I found the crazy Night Fury, only for him to make fun of me! I even attacked him! And he kicked my ass with a grin on his face the entire time!

 

To make matters worse, I got stuck in this stupid gorge. Oh, and Astrid knew where I was, and probably would be returning soon. It’d be just my luck.

 

I couldn’t help but worry about her, though. I’d had another full-on panic attack after the Night Fury had disappeared into the woods after her. I must have been a sight: a Night Fury attempting to climb out of a ravine, running back and forth and screaming at the top of its lungs. I’m surprised some hunters didn’t come along and take me out; I was making such a ruckus!

 

I’d just calmed down when I’d heard the Night Fury shoot off a fireblast. My heart had plummeted.

 

It was impossible to describe how relieved I was when I heard the evil dragon let loose a long string of curses. Astrid had survived! In response to this, I had promptly plopped to the ground in exhaustion.

 

I didn’t even realize I’d dozed off until the sound of thunder boomed above me.

My eyes snapped wide open. I looked up in dread, staring at the dark, angry clouds above me. With a second boom, they opened up, sending a horribly cold shower of rain onto me. I shivered and pulled my wings and tail in for warmth.

Another lightning strike. The noise was so loud, it actually distorted my vision.

  
“Come on!” I cried out. “Give me a break already!”

The only answer I got was for the shower to become a torrent. I whimpered. Why did things have to be like this? Why did everything have to go wrong for me?! I threw my head back and nearly wailed. Everything that could possibly go wrong was happening to me, and I didn’t even know why!

I sat there until my paws had started to go numb. Deciding that getting in shelter would probably be the best idea right now, I stumbled towards the outcropping of trees and squeezed myself between them. Absolutely no difference. It was then that my mind helpfully informed me that standing under a tree in a thunderstorm is the worst thing that you could possibly do. With a somewhat irritated sigh, I stepped out from the outcropping and tried to get a good look at my surroundings. 

There! There was a hole in the side of one of the cliffs, where the Night Fury had missed me earlier.

 

I began to sprint towards it. Halfway there, an enormous gust of wind blew right behind me, so strong that my hind legs actually got lifted off the ground. I screeched in surprise and instinctively spread my wings out. Bad choice. Another blast of wind hit me from the front and _threw me into the air._ I don’t think I’ve ever yelled louder in my life. I tumbled midair, twisting my wings back and forth to try and get myself to land. I was rewarded with another windblast shoving me into the side of the cliff opposite of where I was going.

 

I dropped to the ground and groaned. My back and wings were incredibly sore, and now I was dizzy.

 

This is _definitely_ the worst day of my life.

 

But I couldn’t just sit there in the rain! I’d get sick!

 

I shook my head fiercely, and with a mighty effort, stood up. I pressed my wings against my body, and my belly onto the ground. I began to crawl my way around the lake and towards the big, gaping hole in the center of the cliffside. By then, the rain had found itself a new friend: hail! Hooray! Yippee! What a great party we’re having down here in the Outcasted Viking/Dragon Cove!

 

My eyes were only slits now, to try and avoid getting scratched up. I felt hail scratch against my hide, but, strangely, it barely hurt. I know that the Vikings down at Berk would be all scratched up if they went outside right now. I guess dragons were just more durable than humans. Thinking about it, it did make sense.

 

I sighed in relief when I got to the cliffside. I stared up at it. Looking from directly under it, you couldn’t even tell there was a hole. It was very high up; taller than the houses in Berk were built. I couldn’t tell how deeply it was in the rock face, but I didn’t really care at that moment. All I wanted to do was get into the shelter! Then, at least, I’d be out of the hail and rain, and I would be able to think straight.

 

More lightning flashed above me. I froze, stunned, and tried to shake it off. Still slightly disoriented, I reared on my hind legs and tried to grab the edge of the cave.

 

Except, I didn’t. I wasn’t even close.

 

I tried again, and again, and again. Frustrated, I backed up and tried to leap into the shelter. I was the opposite of lucky with that try; I jumped right into the area below it, not even close to the entrance!

 

This time, I _did_ begin to wail. All my pent-up emotions crashed in on me. I was still Hiccup the Useless. I couldn’t even get into a cave! The village probably hated me, Astrid included, the Night Fury enjoyed my misery and wanted me to die, and I was being rained and hailed on! I’d never be able to change back, or even try to help myself, if I couldn’t even get into a damn cave!

 

I glared up at the cave entrance. It was just barely out of reach, taunting me. I half-heartedly tried to get into it again, my survival instincts pressing me to get out of the rain and hail. I reared on my hind legs and stretched my front paws out as far as I could possibly get them. I tried to dig them into the cliff and jump at the same time. For a few seconds, hope filled me when the powerful claws actually punctured the wall and gave me leverage. I had climbed about halfway there, when, suddenly, a blast of wind knocked into me so hard, I fell off, hit the ground, and rolled into the lake.

 

I jumped out of it, gasping for air and coughing up the water I’d swallowed in my shock. Damn that wind! I was almost there! I was _so close!_

Wait… _the wind!_

 

That’s it! Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier?! All I had to do was wait for a powerful wind blast to blow in the direction of the cave, jump, stretch out my wings, and I’d fly right into it! I’d just have to remember how that Night Fury had moved his wings when he’d jumped over me in our battle. Maybe there _was_ a good thing that had come that fight. That Night Fury _was_ the one who’d made the cave, anyways.

 

I jogged over to the edge of the lake and turned, tensing. I waited for the wind to begin to blow in the direction I was facing.

 

The entire plan was easier said than done. Not only would the wind only blow in one direction for a short time, but by the time I realized that it was in the direction I wanted, it was already too late. To make matters worse, it was all completely random, and it was _still_ raining and hailing. I growled when, for the third time, I missed my chance.

 

 _That’s it!_ I thought, too stressed and outraged to even care about what was happening. _I’m trying it anyways!_

 

With an unnecessary battle-cry, I charged, leaped into the air, and stretched my wings out. I stayed airborne for several seconds longer than any human could have, and a feeling of elation spread through me. I grinned widely. I didn’t dare try to move my wings any further, and just tried to aim myself towards the cave/hole in the cliffside. A few more seconds and I’d be there…

_FWOOOOOOOOOOSH!_

“Aaaaaiiiiiie!”

The wind blasted me from my left. I somersaulted midair and tried to twist my body around so I’d be able to face upright. I surprised myself by actually accomplishing the act. But then, another wind blast hit me from the front. I gasped when my wings caught the air and I went flying backwards. With great effort, I turned around and brought them in closer to me.

I was shocked to see that the cave was right in front of me! Not wasting a second, I reached out with my front paws and grabbed the entrance of the cave. The moment I did, a gust of wind hit me in the side, nearly knocking me completely off. I gritted my teeth and dug my claws in further. When the wind stopped blowing for a few seconds, I scrambled into the cave.

The cave went deep enough into the crag that the far end was completely dry. I gratefully dropped down on the ground, now safe from the hail, rain, and wind. After a moment of staring out into the gray weather, I noticed that the cave I was in didn’t have any stray rocks anywhere. It was one big, smooth dent. I ran a paw over it, amazed at how hard and smooth it felt. If that Night Fury’s blast had done _this_ to the cliff…

 

And to think that that blast that did _this_ was aimed at _me…_

 

I flinched and physically tensed. That Night Fury really, truly wanted me dead. Not a comforting thought. Especially when he was powerful enough to make a cave in a cliffside and simultaneously melt all the rock in said cave.

 

 _Well, at least I’m out of the rain,_ I thought to myself. I lay my head on my paws and curled up tightly. Slowly, my shivering stopped. I never took my eyes off of the entrance of the cave. _Something_ was telling me to be on my guard. I wasn’t sure if it was my new dragon instincts or just my gut, but I wasn’t going to ignore it. For all I knew, that Night Fury had been watching me the entire time. It wouldn’t be that hard to just shoot a blast into the cave I was in to finish me off.

The resulting mental image completely unnerved me. I stood up abruptly and began pacing, talking frantically to myself in an attempt to calm down.

A flash of lightning made itself known by hitting the edge of the cave. That, plus the resulting boom, made me scream at the top of my lungs. I ran to the very edge of the cave and pressed myself up against it, shaking in terror. I whimpered when I heard the lighting begin to get more violent.

Oh, Berk is such a wonderful place to live in. It rains and hails nine months of the year and snows the other three.

 

I spent the rest of the day pressed against that wall. I know that, eventually, I settled down and started to just watch the outside world.

 

Around the time the sky was darkening, the rain was starting to let up a little. Emphasis on ‘little’. The only thing that really completely stopped was the hail. By then, my body had decided that it would be a good idea to shut off. My eyes started to droop and my hearing got fuzzy. I struggled to fight off the sleep, but, in the end, couldn’t.

 

I didn’t dream about a single thing.

 

* * *

I woke up the next morning to a whitish-gray coat of clouds covering the sky and a light drizzle gently tapping the earth. I sat up, a solemn expression on my face when I remembered what had happened the night before. At least it wasn’t raining as hard. In fact, I sort-of liked it when it drizzled like this.

 

I stood up and bent down to stretch. I pushed my wings out as far as they could go and slashed my tail a few times. Ah, that felt much better. My jaws widened in a massive yawn, and a small whine escaped from me. That whine became incredibly loud, when, suddenly, my teeth grew! They shot out of my gums lightning-fast, causing me to jump and try to bring a paw to my mouth.

 

These teeth were so…long! I thought they were big before, but this was ridiculous!

 

 _Dragons are crazy_ , I thought. Experimentally, I tried to see if I could retract the teeth. If they come out, then they can come in, right?

 

It took me a few seconds, but I finally found the muscles above and under my gums that pushed and pulled my teeth around. This led me to finding out that Night Furies can be completely toothless! Who would’ve thought? I couldn’t help but wonder why a dragon would need an ability such as this.

 

I popped my teeth in and out several times. I have to admit, it was a bit amusing. That is, until I realized that I was sitting in a cave playing with my teeth. I felt a little dumb after that.

 

Shaking off the embarrassment, I walked to the edge of the cave. The grass was covered in dew, sparkling slightly. The trees all seemed to be weighed down by water that had not fallen off of their leaves in the storm. The air was filled with the heavy scent of rain, and the humidity of the air was incredibly high. The air itself was a pleasant chill; not too hot, but not too cold, either.

I popped my head over the edge of cave and gulped. That was a long way down.

  
“Okay, Hiccup…you can do this…” I pulled my claws out to their full extent and dug them into the cliffside. I did the same with my hind paws. Slowly, I started to skid down the slightly-slanted surface. My claws slipped on something and I gasped, jumping the remainder of the way down to avoid falling face-first into the ground. I landed clumsily and nearly lost my footing on the slippery grass.

 

Several birds flew above me. They went up and out of the canyon. I watched them enviously. At least they weren’t trapped in here like I was. All of the cliffs were incredibly high and steep. I’d barely been able to get up to the cliff-cave, and that was a little below the middle of the cliff’s height. Although each cliff in the cove stopped at different heights, all of them would be impossible to climb. I scratched the idea of flying, out, too. After last night’s experience, I didn’t even want to _look_ at my wings anymore.

 

I was so _done_ with all of this. I wanted to go home.

 

My heart panged in loneliness and homesickness. I wish I had never shot down that Night Fury. It would have been better for everyone _._

 

I growled at the thought of the Night Fury, teeth unsheathing to their fullest. I hated him. The second I thought that, my eyes widened.

 

Shaking my head several times, I walked over to the lake to get a drink of water. Hopefully that would clear my mind. I plunged my mouth in and took a long gulp of the ice-cold water. It felt wonderful as it slid down my throat and into my belly. I brought my head out of the water and gasped.

 

There was a Night Fury!

 

I felt instincts inside of me awaken. Something in my chest constricted, and my mouth opened wide. My teeth retracted. I felt something barely tangible float around the back of my throat. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until a high-pitched scream made itself known from the back of my mouth. I reared my head back in shock, and the fireblast I had unwillingly conjured shot up and out of the gorge, exploding above the forest in a great fireball. I gaped at it.

 

 _Why did I just…no. NO! I’m not a dragon! I can’t do things like that!_ I bolted away from the lake, humiliated and furious at myself for getting so worked up over my own _damn reflection_ that I’d actually lost myself. _I’m not a dragon! I…I have to…_

 

I stared at my feet. _I have to act human…but how? I can’t just pretend. It’ll only make all of this hurt even more. But I’m not a dragon! I don’t and shouldn’t ever act like one!_

 

I lowered my head in shame. _I’m such a wreck. I’m even starting to act like a dragon. I need to get my bearings straight._ _How can I do that when I’m trapped in here, though?_

 

I looked around helplessly for an answer. My eyes rested on the shortest overhang. It had a sort of dip in the middle of it. I narrowed my eyes, debating with myself. I had an idea…but would I really want to carry it out? I weighed the consequences of both decisions. If I decided not to, I’d still be in this cove, and I’d starve. If I did go through with it, then I risked becoming more of a dragon…but I could get out, escaping the Night Fury, if it were ever to come back and try to kill me. I was a sitting duck down here, with little to no shelter, and absolutely no fighting experience.

 

After thinking long and hard, I decided on the latter. I grudgingly walked over to the dip and closed my eyes, preparing myself. I needed to be as mentally stable as I could while I did this. I didn’t want to become less human at _all._ I opened my eyes in newfound determination.

 

“I can do this,” I told myself. “I know it. Or…I think I know it.”

 

Praying that this worked out, I retracted my teeth all the way. I felt what I know knew was gas filter into my mouth. Rearing up on my hind legs and sitting back, I opened my mouth wide and sent a large fireball at the dip in the cliff. The force of the powerful energy-blast knocked me flat on my back. I grunted and rolled over as fast as I could. At the same moment, the blue-white ball hit the general area of the dip. It had somehow expanded halfway there, and exploded with significantly less force than the Night Fury’s had.

 

The rock on the crag crumbled and broke off in large chunks. I yelped when they began to fall. Turning, I started running as fast as my legs would carry me. More crumbling noises sounded behind me, and with fear in my eyes, I looked over my shoulder. I had caused an avalanche of rocks! They were raining down on me! I was going to get crushed!

 

I faced towards what was in front of me and made a mad dash for the lake. When I got to the edge, I jumped over it, glided for a few seconds, and landed dead-center in it. Several splashes sounded when the rocks fell into the water, but none got as far out into the lake as I had. Panting, I slowly began to paddle my way out of the water, using my tail as a sort of rudder to propel me forward. When I finally reached dry land, I shook my body and finally fully looked at what I’d just done. (I had to suppress a grin; a small part of me was cheering over the fact that I, Hiccup, had just shot an explosive fireball out of my mouth, and still knew that my mind was perfectly human!)

 

The small dip now covered the entire cliff. Rocks of all sizes covered the entire area under it. I couldn’t help but stare at the boulders that could have easily crushed me. Suddenly, I was very thankful that I had decided to run away.

 

The rocks were mostly dark brown in color, but there was many tannish-yellow, gray, and even white rocks littering them, too. I think I saw a few shiny black ones, too. A giant pile of rocks lead from the top of the precipice to the ground, where it flattened out and spread out the entire length of that ‘wall’ of the gorge. It was slanted very slightly; it would still be near-impossible for a human to climb it.

 

But I wasn’t a human anymore. I was a dragon. I was very powerful and strong compared to my human body. I might, just might, be able to scale the massive pile of rocks and save myself.

 

Wings folded against my body, I carefully walked over to the rocky area. I bunched up my leg muscles and leaped onto a large rock a few feet taller than myself, sticking my tail out when it began to wobble.

 

I looked straight up. Several rocks were sticking out, many of them big enough for me to climb on. Each was halfway-sticking out of the pile. I could easily jump my way through the maze. I could just as easily make it all come crashing down, too.

 

“Be careful, Hiccup,” I told myself. I jumped at a rock resting directly to my upper left. It groaned under my weight as I scrambled onto it. Trying not to waste any time, I clawed my way up the rocky wall on several medium-sized rocks, frantically kicking them all to the bottom. When a boulder I could actually sit on came into view, I launched myself at it with lightning speed. Gradually, I managed to pull myself onto it. I looked up at the long way to go and grimaced. It was _so tall!_

 

I jumped on a rock above me. I paused mid-crouch when I felt something under it give. Before I could make a sound, it started to collapse. Gasping loudly, I sprang as high as I could and hit the rock-wall hard. My claws dug into several cracks in the stone I was clinging to and pain shot up my paws and elbows. I struggled to get onto the boulder I was hanging on, and when I finally did, took several deep breaths. While I wasn’t even close to the top, I was high enough in the air to seriously injure myself if I fell the wrong way. I peeked over the edge of the rock.

 

_Scary!_

 

With a sigh, I got back to work with much more caution. A majority of my wonderful climb was me nearly falling and digging my long-suffering claws into the rocks until I could sit on one big enough to hold my weight.

 

When I was about halfway up, I heard something that made my blood freeze.

 

I quickly squeezed myself into a smaller hole in the wall, camouflaging myself against the dark brown rock. The sound of footsteps continued to get closer and closer. I concentrated, pricking my ears. From the way it was walking, I could tell that it wasn’t a human, and that it was heavy.

 

My heart skipped a beat. And then it dropped when I saw the Night Fury from before appear on the opposite edge of the gorge.

 

Even from the large distance between us, I could see every detail about him, from his rippling muscles to how his evil almost-glowing green eyes widened at seeing the gorge’s new feature. I froze when he traced his eyes around the pile of rocks. He didn’t notice me. For once, I was glad that my scales were dark brown. They matched my surroundings perfectly.

 

The Night Fury stalked around the edge of the gorge, not missing a single detail. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he snorted. I thought I heard him say, “Impossible.”

 

Suddenly, he projected his voice out. “Come out, human! I know you’re there! I can smell you!”

I froze, but said nothing. How could he possibly be able to catch my scent? Could he get past the rain-smell, or was he lying?

 

He paused, and when I did not react, continued, “How was last night? I bet you had fun down here in the cold, cold rain and hail. Especially when that lake started to overflow!” He grinned maliciously. “I bet you spent the whole night trembling under those trees, acting like the weak human you are. Or, should I say _dragon_? It’s strange how you insist on being called a human. Of course, you are sort of a freak.”

 

My eyes flashed. I wasn’t a freak! It was _him_ who did this to me!

 

“Oooh! I almost forgot to ask you! How did it go with your nest? Was it fun being banished by them? Surely you wouldn’t be this deep in this forest on a hunting trip. I bet your own father and mother hates you! How wonderful!” He laughed loudly, throwing his head into the air.

 

I growled. His laughing halted, and he looked in my direction with ears pricked. I squeezed my eyes shut, the only part of me that stood out, and tried to calm myself down. _He’s just trying to taunt you. He wants a reaction so he can kill you. Stay put! Don’t! Move!_

 

“Hey, human.” I opened my eyes. The Night Fury leaned over the edge of the gorge and grinned. “Guess where I slept last night?”

 

Judging by his tone of voice, I really didn’t want to know. That didn’t stop the dragon from carrying on in his one-sided conversation. Lucky me.

 

“Well, freak,” he crooned, tossing his head. “I saw the rain coming far before it came here. So, I was walking in the woods…and I found this human-made den…” He trailed off. My eyes widened. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was abandoned, but since it was said to be haunted, people of all ages would climb up to it and look around for the ‘ghosts’.

 

“There were these little humans in there, unfortunately. So, I just chased them out. All but one.” He licked fully-unsheathed teeth.

I gasped in horror.

 

“Was the long-haired blonde girl a friend of yours? Because she certainly was a friend of _mine_. I’m glad we had a rematch.” He chuckled.

 

_He—killed—ASTRID!!!!!!!_

 

I roared loud enough to wake the dead. It took one glance at the Night Fury’s smug expression to send me completely off the edge.

 

My body went through the pre-fire steps faster than I could even imagine. Apparently, the Night Fury was surprised, too, because when I shot the blast, he was just starting to react to the attack.

 

I didn’t hit him, though!

 

My aim was off, and I hit the area directly below the Night Fury. He jumped and tried to fly away from the explosion, but the resulting shockwave knocked him back…and right into the gorge.

He screamed a long string of (very) colorful phrases as he fell. The Night Fury spread his wings and fins out, leaned forward, and forced himself into a painful-looking roll that sent him straight into the lake. For a few seconds, I wondered if he would actually come up from a fall that hard. My hopes fell when the evil creature burst out of the lake, gasping and sputtering. He shook his head wildly and climbed out of the body of water, shaking his scales to get the water out of them.

 

I couldn’t help my reaction. He looked like a drowned rat.

 

So I (stupidly; Gods, I’m an idiot) laughed.

 

Unfortunately…he wasn’t a drowned rat. The Night Fury stood up, eyes mere slits, and proclaimed, “ _Human!_ I will make this moment your _last!_ ”

 

* * *

Damn. That. Human.

I was a fool for underestimating him. While I had achieved my goal of getting the annoying little thing out of hiding, I’d ended up trapping myself in the process!

 

My muscles, mostly those in my front legs, were sore now. It hurt a little bit to stand up, but I chose to ignore it at the time. I had more important matters at hand. Two, in fact.

 

One: get rid of that annoying human once and for all. He was a thorn in mine and probably every dragon’s side. Sparing his life in that village had been a mistake. I needed to fix it.

 

Two: get out of this idiotic gorge.

 

I glared at the human, baring my teeth. While his aim was terrible, he’d hit me faster than I’d ever seen. I had a lurking suspicion that he’d just unknowingly used magic to force his fireblast into superspeed. I’d seen it been done before, but had never really thought of doing it myself. Shadow-Blenders have the fastest and most powerful strike; what use would I have to make mine quicker?

 

I couldn’t let him know this, though. I hated to admit it, but if he figured out how to use magic, then he could actually get the upper hand. My magic level was a little over ‘barely usable’, and would be for the next couple of days. Even then, I was planning on saving every last drop. I needed to fix my tailfin as soon as possible, which would take a tremendous amount of energy, concentration, and power. I couldn’t do any of that if I knew a Dragon-Viking that was out to get me was still roaming about.

So, I attacked.

It was _my_ turn to throw a blast at the Viking. I charged one up, not even bothering to make it fast, and started to aim it at him. My eyes narrowed in confusion when the Viking, although he was shrinking in fear, started to lean forward. Was he…watching me?

My eyes widened, and I quickly let my fire loose. I wasn’t about to let him learn how to aim better.

He yelped loudly and looked around wildly. With a terrified squeal, the human jumped off of his perch before my blast hit him. I began to sprint around the lake, snorting in annoyance when I saw him try to mimic the landing I had done earlier—and fail. He hit the ground with a loud ‘thump’.

I was pouncing when he finally noticed me. The human rolled out of the way and began running as fast as he could in the direction I’d just come. I lashed my tail at his leg, tripped him, and tried to claw at him. He jumped away nimbly, eyes wide, and fled. I growled in annoyance and called him every single curse I could think of. What a _coward!_ He wouldn’t even look me in the eye!

He’d had a headstart and was much smaller than me. I needed to speed up, and fast.

I broke out into a run, jumped into the air, and glided a long distance forward before landing and running again. The human rounded across the lake with me hot on his tail. I went to jump onto his back, but when I was halfway through the leap, he stopped, skidded, and bolted in the opposite direction that we were going. Unable to change directions, I could only watch helplessly as he escaped from my claws. I landed on one paw and spun on it. When my hind feet touched the ground, I immediately sprinted towards the brown human-dragon. He cried out in terror.

Somehow, the little thing got _faster_. I found (to my great annoyance) that he was keeping up the same pace as me. The problem was that he was much farther away from me. When I reached the side of the lake, he’d already crossed the halfway point. And that lake was _huge_. It covered half of the gorge. Panting, I forced my legs to move faster and faster.

We were on our second lap around the lake when the human began to falter. I was _beyond_ irritated by then, grunting as I leaped over a rather large rock on the side where the cliff had seemingly exploded. The human was staying as close to the lake as he could to avoid me. He began to round around the edge of the water.

I suddenly changed directions and snapped my wings out, gliding the short distance between the areas before and after the curve. The pleasant result was me landing right into a shocked Viking. He screamed for help that would never come and wildly thrashed beneath me. His claws came dangerously close to slicing my neck open.

 _Woah,_ I thought, flinching out of the way. _Time to change tactics._

I jumped off of him and shoulder-slammed him to the ground. He crawled away from me, shaking his head wildly.

“W-w-wait! No! Stop, please! Don’t hurt me!”

I chose not to respond to this, seeing as he was the one who started this, and all that would end up from _that_ conversation was him begging for his life. I stalked towards him, head lowered, teeth bared, and wings slightly opened. He continued to back up until his wings touched the edge of one of the cliffs. I stopped moving.

“Well, this was fun,” I told him, slightly out of breath. The human, on the other hand, was gasping for air. “But the playing stops here. You’re clearly outmatched, human. Or, should I say, Shadow-Blender?” My smug expression fell at the look he gave me. It was as if I’d said something crazy…did I have a bit of meat stuck between my teeth?

“You mean Night Fury?” He piped up. His eyes darted left and right.

I snorted in amusement. “Night Fury? Why would a Shadow-Blender be called _that_?” I chortled. “Please don’t tell me that that’s what you humans named us.”

“You think Shadow-Blender is better?” He narrowed one eye in disgust. “It makes you sound like you literally take the shadows and blend them together.”

“We do not! It means— _hey!”_

I gasped in surprise when the dragon-Viking charged straight at me, _crawled under my stomach_ (which was very awkward, since he lifted my body up in the process), and glided the entire expanse of the lake. He didn’t even bother to try to land and simply let himself collapse once he’d gotten over the lake, tumbling on the ground for a few seconds and skidding to a halt next to a tree.

He glanced over his shoulder at me, pine-green eyes turned gray from exhaustion. I was a bit surprised at this. I was tired, too…but not like that. Then again, he had been climbing that rock wall when I had come around. But I’d never seen a Shadow-Blender run out of energy so fast in my life.

So…he was quick, agile, and strong when under threat. But he had very little stamina or will to fight.

I stored that bit of information in my head for later. Standing up, I angrily stormed over to the edge of the lake and roared out to him, “Coward! You attacked me _first!_ Why in the world would you run away from me?!” I stamped the ground several times to emphasize my point.

He struggled to sit up. His entire body was shaking in exhaustion. He turned around to face me, and I reared my head back as if I’d been slapped. He looked…devastated. Hadn’t we been joking earlier? What brought _this_ on?

Unless he’d only started that off-track conversation to distract me.

“B-because…you…you killed…” He took in a deep breath and let out a sob. The Viking lowered his head and turned it away from me, as if embarrassed to show sadness around me. (I didn’t see the big deal; when dragons cry, their brethren usually try to help them instead of laughing at them. Were humans cruel enough to ridicule their own kind for being so badly upset?)

My eyes narrowed at that thought. So, I had succeeded to cause him the pain that I had wanted to.

…but…I didn’t like it.

I shook the feeling off violently, trying to convince myself that I had wanted this. I watched him calculatingly, sighing when the dragon-Viking finally collapse into tears, throwing himself to the ground and wailing his soul out. I couldn’t feel anger towards that.

I backed away from the lake in uncertainty. _I did this._

 _Kill him, you idiot,_ I thought to myself, _he’s vulnerable. He wouldn’t even see it coming._

 _But what if killing him in that state of mind affects his afterlife?_ My mind shot back. _He’d be ruined forever._

_That’s what you wanted, Shadow-Blender! Now kill him!_

I shook my head wildly. One part of me was outraged at myself for showing pity to an evil human. Especially when their kind had shown so much cruelty towards mine. The other half, though, argued that he was in emotional pain and that I should not end his life. It whispered that he was just a hatchling, judging from his size and voice, and that he had never chosen this. It repeated, _I did this._

True, I _had_ changed him into a dragon, which I now realize was a mistake—a very stupid mistake (killing him would have been much faster and easier, and it would have left this entire drama-fest out of my life). Why was I being blamed for this? He was the one who shot me down! I was minding my own business!

I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut.

He was a human. Humans were evil. Except this strong display of emotion proved that wrong. I hadn’t realized that that human female was so important to him. I _had_ found that shack in the woods and had stayed the night, but the bit about the girl was a complete lie. I’d only used it because it was necessary! It had gotten him out of his hiding place.

Unfortunately, it also had this side effect.

How could I kill something that was in so much trauma?

 _He’s a human,_ I thought off-handedly. _We dragons kill them all the time. What makes this one different?_

If the situation hadn’t been so difficult for me, I would have rolled my eyes. _Well, for one thing, he is a dragon. And if he shot me down…then he must be different from his tribe. No Viking has ever seen a Shadow-Blender before. We’ve lived in hundreds of years of mystery. So, this must be some sort of child prodigy…or outcast. He was treated with doubt and repulsion when he caught me, so did that mean he caught me as a last-ditch effort to avoid getting outcasted from his nest?_

For some reason, I didn’t like that. _Am I really to blame?_ I thought hard about the recent past. _If I’d just run away, I would have been a coward. Killing him would have been fine. But turning him into a dragon…?_

I should not have done this.

That human had tried to look good in front of his tribe. And I’d gone and hurled their hate and disgust at him hundreds of times stronger. Which, while not a bad thing, could be seen as uncalled for.

I hated how I felt so happy and angry with myself for all of this. I couldn’t decide on what to do or feel!

_I’ll just…I’ll leave him. That means that I’m no longer responsible for his death, since he’ll just die in here. His tribe will find him eventually, too. That girl got away. She knows where this place is. Staying here is suicide._

I silently turned towards the rocky cliffside that had been blown apart. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I jumped up onto the first available rock and started to climb up the giant wall.

“Wait!” The shrill, chocked call echoed throughout the entire canyon.

I turned around on my perch to stare at the Viking. He was running his way over to where I was. I sniffed at him. “What?”

He landed close to the rocks and walked a few paced forward. He stared up at me with huge, sad eyes that strongly resembled a kicked puppy. When I got a closer look, though, they held many more emotions. There was resolve, nervousness, fear, agony…too many to count.

“Don’t leave me. Just…wait.” He stared at the ground, pawing at it nervously. With a small grimace, the human looked up at me. “I know I’ve said this a thousand times by now. But…I’m serious. I _need_ to be changed back. I don’t know if you understand how important this is for me. Please, I can’t be a dragon.” Gradually, his voice switched from timid to confident. “I was born a human. The gods made me that way. You can’t just switch up their decision out of spite. I know that you were angry, and I understand why. I really am sorry…for both of us. We _both_ made mistakes, and we _both_ are paying a price for it. But…I’m paying a higher price. You’ve lost a tailfin. I’ve lost my family, friends, village, and _body._ You took my _life_ away from me and enjoyed—every—second. How is that remotely fair?

“I’m able to admit my mistakes, dragon, and I’m pretty sure that you can, too. I know that I’m a human. I am not a dragon, and I will _never_ be one. You know that, too. You only call me a dragon when you are digging for a reaction. So, I ask you, Shadow-Blender,” he made direct eye contact with me. “ _Please change me back_. I don’t want to die, or live as something that I’m not. What kind of life is that? If you change me back, it will be as if none of this ever happened. I _know_ that if you can change me into a dragon, then you can fix your tail.

“Let’s strike a deal. You change me back into what I really am and leave here, and we can just pretend that none of this ever happened.” He suddenly dropped his head.

“I…I can’t forgive you. You killed Astrid. But I can _forget_ about you. Just…please. Think about it, very carefully. What do you _really_ want?”

Dead silence.

I was, to put it lightly, shocked. Apalled.

Nobody had ever spoken that seriously to me. Nobody had ever stood up to me as dignified as that, ever. Period.

I had to respect that aspect of the Viking. He, though timid and in desperate need of self-confidence, was a very strong individual. His bravery and clear-mindedness shone like a beckoning star in his speech. He also pointed out many important things…but one thing was bothering me. I had to get it out of the way.

“I didn’t kill her,” I breathed. The human’s head shot up and he gasped. “I lied to get you out of hiding. I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”

The Viking looked like he had a mixture of happiness, relief, and outrage swirling inside him. He didn’t say anything, though, and gestured for me to continue.

“Human…” I sighed. “Why do you think I turned you into a dragon?”

He frowned. “I shot you down?”

“More than that,” I corrected. “You dishonored me.”

The human tipped his head to the side. “I apologized for that.”

“No, you didn’t. You said you were sorry for _both_ of us. And while I appreciate the long speech, which was very impressive, by the way, I still stand the same. I’m not going to sit here and let you go after only one day. What kind of punishment is that? Hardly any, I’d think. All you’ve really done that’s truly terrible for you is getting attacked by me…and probably having to sit out in the rain last night.”

“Well, I’m sorry!” He snapped. “Isn’t that good enough? Can’t we make amends?”

I silently debated with myself. On one hand, getting this annoying thing out of my scales once and for all would be wonderful. On the other…he was still a human deep down. He’d just told me. I didn’t trust him in the least bit, and there was no reason for me to after hearing him say that. Turning him back into a human, which was impossible at my current state, would only lead to disaster for my tribe. The Vikings would learn more about dragons—and Shadow-Blenders—if this human were to ever return. He couldn’t go back. Not now. I was still trapped on this gods-forsaken island.

But I couldn’t just tell him my magic was low. Knowing that, he’d try to take advantage of me. I knew that if he had the proper motivation, he could probably get out of the gorge. The thought of him running back to his village and somehow telling them that I was vulnerable made me go still with unease. It would be the end of me.

Plus, I definitely did not want to see if he had open access to _his_ magic.

I frowned seriously. What could I say that would deter him? What would buy me more time? Something that wasn’t a complete lie, preferably (I didn’t want to have to deal with a million different alibis.)?

With a small smile, I finally responded.

“When you brought me down to the world of humans…you destroyed the life’s work of my species. We make sure we aren’t seen for a reason. Not only are we powerful, but we are also rare due to being hunted down. Centuries ago, the elder Shadow-Blenders decided to cut off all connections to any threats, including humans. We were down to our last fifty. Now, I realize that this was a long time ago…but Shadow-Blenders have not recovered that well. We are only in our hundreds. The species hasn’t advanced in numbers very much at all. We were completely dependent on the fact that _nobody_ knew what we were. And then you shot me down.

“I was angry because you shot me down, yes. Like I said, you dishonored me. But I was also scared. Word travels quickly with humans, and now that there’s a solid description of a Shadow-Blender out there, the entire species is in danger. People will begin to think, ‘hey, I saw something like that in the mountains’, and go and look in that spot. Before you know it, Shadow-Blenders will become widely-known and hunted. It’s quite hard for a black dragon to run from _anything_ if it isn’t in the dead of the night.

“Now it’s time for _you_ to think hard. Is endangering an entire species of dragons punishable by becoming one of the dragons?”

Perfect. The best part about this was that it was true. While the thought had never crossed my mind (Shadow-Blenders generally like warmer climates over the arctic oceans and their islands, so I was the only Shadow-Blender around for quite a distance), it _was_ a good cover-up. It made me look like I was incredibly loyal to my species (which I was) and that I was placing their importance over the humans’ (not so much).

He gaped at me. “You’re seriously telling me you’re doing this because of a number you can’t be sure about?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure. I doubt that you’d understand how, but we Shadow-Blenders always try to keep in touch.”

“So,” the Viking growled, “you won’t admit your mistake? You’re blaming it on a number. A tiny, insignificant thing that in no way affects what goes on in Berk. You can’t possibly be serious!”

“Why can’t I?” I asked, raising a brow.

The human exploded. “Just because your species is _low_ , doesn’t mean that you’ll all die! We’ve known what the other dragons have looked like for even longer, and we haven’t even killed half of them! Unlike your beliefs, I doubt that anyone will remember exactly what a Night Fury looks like. It was dark, and they were kind-of shocked because _you_ turned _me_ into a _dragon!_ The only other person who’s seen you is Astrid, and she was fighting you! I doubt she was busy cataloging your appearance! So, no! Your species is in no danger! That’s just an excuse to not turn me back!”

“Such arrogance!” I snarled. “How would you know such things?! That group of humans was staring at me for quite some time. Not to mention, several of them were more focused on keeping _me_ off of any other Viking when I had pinned you to the ground. Many of them _did_ get a look at me! Shadow-Blenders aren’t very complicated-looking dragons, so I doubt they won’t miss any details!” I lashed my tail angrily. I wasn’t lying! This _was_ an _actual_ problem! Just because it ranked low on my to-do list didn’t mean that I should completely ignore it!

“That’s not _fair!_ You can’t base your decision off of that!” The human slammed one foot down on the ground. Hard. Several rocks beneath it cracked. “We are _here!_ This is about _us!_ Not these other Night Furies that apparently live far away! It’s just---I can’t believe--!” He trailed off, at a loss for words. The human glared at me with the strength of an army of dragons.

“It is fair. You’re asking me to take everything I did back, just like that.” I calmly sat down and curled my tail around my feet. “Plus, I still can’t fly. If I were to change you back, you’d run home to your home, yes?”

He paused in his glaring, confused, and nodded.

“How do you think your tribe will react to you suddenly appearing as a human?” I asked seriously.

“Well, that’s easy. They’ll…” He stopped in his explanation abruptly.

“They’ll outcast you again?” I supplied. “But that time, you’d be a human. Something weak and vulnerable in the wild that doesn’t have a chance of survival. Dragons, on the other hand, can go days without food or water, and are generally resistant to the weather.” He snorted sarcastically. I chose to ignore it. “Dragons are so much more capable of living in this world than humans, so why bother? You know that that’s going to happen if you do go back as a human.”

“That’s not true!” The Viking cried out defiantly. “They’d accept me!”

I rolled my eyes. “As what? The freak who turned into a dragon for a day, ran off, and then came back? Nobody would treat you the same ever again. You’d be ridiculed, harassed, and, most importantly, watched. Nobody would ever let you out of their sights again. Say ‘bye-bye’ to privacy, and wave at it as it leaves!”

I stopped short for emphasis, then started up again. “Also. What can you possibly say to make me believe that you won’t try to shoot down another dragon in the next raid? Namely, me.”

He glared, bared half-unsheathed teeth…and stopped. He looked deep in thought for several moments before saying, “I can swear an oath to the gods. I’ll promise that I’ll never try to shoot you or your dragon friends down again. If I do…well, then I’ll be damned for eternity for going back on an oath _and_ a sworn promise.”

He stared at me hopefully. Gods, could those eyes get any _bigger_? I resisted the urge to baby him, reminding myself that, even if I wanted to, I could not change him back into a human for a very long time.

“Tempting, but no,” I shot him down. “You said you won’t _shoot_ any dragon down. You never said anything about fighting. And!” I interrupted him when he opened his mouth to fight back. “I wouldn’t believe you if you did. Put yourself in my place. Would you trust me?”

“Put _me_ in _your_ place?!” The dragon-Viking all but shrieked. “Why don’t you take your own advice! If I turned you into a human and dropped you off inside a nest of human-eating dragons, wouldn’t you be desperate to fix things? Wouldn’t you try _everything in your power_ to get back to normal? There are so many things wrong with your argument! Just _listen to me!_ ”

 

I stared at him, twitching my tail. This Viking was _very_ good at persuasive talking. It wasn’t enough, though.

 

“I’d do things in my own way. My answer is no, and it won’t be changing anytime soon.”

He dropped his head and wings in defeat.

 

Without a word, I turned to leave. I flapped my wings expertly to give me lifts to the higher and more stable boulders above. I was halfway up the steep slope in no time. It was about then that I started to hear something that sounded very similar to…growling? I stopped, pricking my ears. Yes that was definitely growling. Very _close_ growling.

 

Alarmed, I spun around. The human was far below me, but I could clearly see the anger and hurt shining in his eyes. I could also clearly see the fireball that he had built up. With a gasp, I turned and jumped to the nearest boulder…just as the fireblast crashed into the stone, sending a shockwave that knocked me over the rock’s side. I scrabbled helplessly, gasping in shock when I saw a large area of the wall begin to give way. I needed to get up _now!_

 

I leaped onto a large rock. It crumbled under my weight, causing me to fall on another. I jumped away when several stones fell from above. I landed on one of the few stable areas of the cliff, several meters away from the rockalanche. I stared at my crumbling escape route as it collapsed in on itself and made it nearly impossible to climb. While it was less steep, it was far more rocky, and I doubted I would be able to climb it without severely injuring my paws.

I bared my teeth. I was trapped!

I turned to yell at the human.

What I didn’t expect to see was a fireball hurtling towards me.

I only managed to let out a gasp-turned-scream before it hit me dead-on. I remember feeling a tremendous burst of pain…and then the beauty of unconsciousness took over my form. I welcomed the darkness as it took over me, slowly letting go of my problems.

* * *

The only word to describe what I was feeling right now would be ‘horrified’.

I had _not_ meant to actually shoot the Night Fury down. I’d only wanted to hurt him a little bit, not send him flying off the cliffside!

I felt my cheeks burn in shame. I’d let my emotions get control of me…again. I had been so upset and so mad at the Night Fury for his irrationality, that I’d lost control of myself. I’d done something that I normally wouldn’t have, and that made me outraged at myself. I shouldn’t have reacted like that!

Above all, though, I was scared. I had reacted just like a dragon would.

I hunched over and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fight off the emotions threatening to take over. I was so upset and angry and confused and sad and ashamed and—!

 

I took in a deep breath and emptied my mind—not an easy task. I needed to calm down and asses the situation. Maybe if I hadn’t acted like a two-year-old, I would have been out of the gorge a long time ago.

 

I raised my head and looked over at the still form of the Night Fury. I sniffed in his direction cautiously as fear clenched my heart. Was he…dead? The thought made me shudder.

 

I stood up abruptly and carefully made my way over him. (I failed to notice how I arched my back completely and sidestepped the entire time, letting out a low moan.)

 

The Night Fury’s eyes were closed, but they weren’t being squeezed shut. Looking at his chest move up and down very evenly, I realized that he was alive. I sighed in relief and dropped down from my toes and onto the palms of my paws (when did I get into that position?). I didn’t want to deal with a dead dragon in my temporary home, nor did I want my only chance at becoming normal again to be ruined because of _my_ stupidity.

 

I stared at the Night Fury’s form for the longest time. What should I do? Leave him there and hide?

Or…

An idea presented itself into my head.

The Night Fury had said that he didn’t trust me. But what if I gained his trust? We could form an alliance of sorts, and then he’d change me back. I’d keep the agreement between us and fix everything back to normal in the village, and, soon, we’d both just forget about each other and move on with our lives.

I thought about this for a moment.

_That sounds…cruel…_

I let out another sigh. I didn’t want to turn back into a human through trickery, especially if it involved earning the dragon’s trust. Although he was a monster, I didn’t want his heart to break as much as mine had. Nobody deserved that under any circumstances. This dragon was no different. I couldn’t just become a fake-friend and then turn on him once I had got what I wanted.

I stared at his sleeping form in deep thought.

  
“I don’t want to fight anymore,” I whispered. “I just want to go home.”

I turned my green eyes on the rockalanche (great name, right?). It looked downright _painful_ to climb. So many rock shards were sticking out, sharp as swords, that it would be impossible to get over the steep hill without hurting myself. So I was stuck in here with a grounded dragon that probably hated me after knocking him out.

 

I vaguely remembered someone telling me, “A downed dragon is a dead dragon”. Or, someone else. I’m not sure if I was eavesdropping or if I was just overhearing something. Either way, it made me feel a twinge of guilt. It was _my_ fault that all of this had happened; I’d shot down the dragon, which had caused him to freak out and do all of this. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t at fault. This mess was as much his burden as it was mine. I shouldn’t be the only one who has to solve it.

 

But you can’t force the pieces of a puzzle together. If you do, they bend out of shape, and eventually break. Then you have a broken, uneven, and uncompleted puzzle that you can never use again.

_Maybe…if I showed him kindness…_

 

I replayed the Night Fury’s words in my head. Most of the time, he’d sounded spiteful, arrogant, or holier-than-thou around me. Even during his talk with me about what I’d do if I were a human, he’d been speaking to me with a skeptical tone of voice that had an underlying message of ‘you’re an idiot’. Not once had he shown a positive emotion towards me. And not once had I shown a positive emotion towards him.

 

What if all we needed…was a push?

 

What if we fixed the puzzle?

The thought was ridiculous, but I certainly liked it a lot more than my trickster plan. It was the only other thing I could think of, too. Even so, the ‘act kind and receive kindness’ idea was much better than ‘gain his trust and use it to your advantage’.

 

His single-finned tail flicked in his sleep and pulled me out of my thoughts. I jumped, slipped on a rock, and threw out both paws to catch myself. The landed square on the edge of a rather sharp boulder. Yelping in pain and surprise, I pulled them back and hissed. Augh, pain. _Love_ it.

 

“We can’t stay here,” I groaned. “It’s too…rocky.”

 

I carefully made my way over to the Night Fury’s neck and grabbed the area that was his scruff with half-unsheathed teeth. With great effort, I began to drag him over to the more grassy area of this side of the gorge. It hurt like hell, walking blindly among sharp stones. It also took a very long time, since I’d only really rested during our argument.

 

Eventually, I made it over to the soft-grass section of the gorge.

 

I dropped the heavy Night Fury and fell to the ground. My eyelids grew heavy in exhaustion and started to flutter.

 

_No, I can’t…I can’t…_

 

I closed my eyes.

 

_Sleep…_

 

%MCEPASTEBIN%


	4. Chapter 4

“So…you’re saying you found Hiccup with the _Night Fury?_ And you managed to get away from it?” Ruffnut raised one of her long, blonde eyebrows at me. She turned to stare fully at me, not even caring in the least bit that her feet were hanging off of a drop-dead cliff and that she’d just scooted towards the already-precarious edge.

I nodded, kicking my feet in midair slightly. “It looked like they were fighting.”

Snotlout whooped from his cross-legged position behind me. “Hah! You beat a Night Fury?! That’s amazing!” He gave me a toothy grin and leaned in towards me. “ _You’re_ amazing. Is there nothing you _can’t_ do?”

I was saved from more horrendous flirting by Ruffnut’s brother, Tuffnut, smacking Snotlout upside the head. “Smooth,” he commented with a roll of his eyes, “but I think we were here for a reason?” He looked over at me. I nodded, and he sent the scowling Snotlout a sarcastic smile. “Hah, told ya’.” (I rolled my eyes; for a minute, I thought he was actually paying attention instead of being competitive.)

“Oh, shut up!” Snotlout cried. He tackled Tuffnut in the side, forcing the two into a roll downhill. Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and I all stared with raised eyebrows as the two tumbled over a small cliff and out of sight, most likely rolling down towards the village. Faintly, I heard the bigger of the two Viking boys give a victory cry that was suddenly cut off with a shout of pain.

“Looks like Tuffnut kicked him,” Ruffnut announced, sounding as if the entire thing was boring her. To be honest, I was a bit unamused myself. I’d called this meeting here to stay away from anyone from the village. The cliff we were on was perfect--you had to climb up an incredibly steep hill and take a short hike through the forest to get to it. The precipice dropped right into the icy ocean, guaranteeing that nobody would be able to sneak up from behind. But what was the point of bringing us here if those two Neanderthal boys fought their way down to the village?

“Um,” Fishlegs spoke up for the first time since we arrived. “Maybe we should follow them.”

“No!” I scooted away from the edge and stood up, wiping my spiked skirt carefully to get the dirt off of it. “We’ll just wait for them to come back.” I glared at him when he started to protest. The overweight Viking stopped and crossed his arms, glaring at his feet. As he was doing this, two familiar voices began to weave their way from below. I looked over my shoulder at Snotlout and Tuffnut, who were joking around and acting as if nothing had happened.

Tuffnut pushed his friend in the side. “You should’a seen it! It was amazing!”

“I’ll bet!” Snotlout laughed. “But—“

I looked over at Ruffnut for help. In response to this, she smirked, picked up a rock, and hurled it at her brother’s face, hitting him right in the cheek and cutting off the conversation he and Snotlout were having. The male twin yelped in shock and pain.

“If you don’t mind, we’d like to get this show on the road.” Ruffnut absentmindedly studied her nails. “Astrid, you were saying?”

“Thank you, Ruffnut,” I pointedly glared at the two men, who flinched and glanced at each other.

I began to pace, frowning slightly. “So, as I was saying, I found Hiccup—“

“How did he look like, by chance?” Fishlegs suddenly interrupted me. “W-w-well, I-I mean,” he stuttered at everyone’s dirty looks, “I just had an idea. Did he look like the other Night Fury, or was he different?” He tapped his fingers together, something I had quickly learned was a nervous habit of his. The other three turned to look at me while I scanned over the memory in my head.

I blinked. “Actually…he _was_ different. He had brown…scales, I guess, and he still had his freckles.”

Snotlout rolled his eyes. “Leave it to Hiccup to still be a screw-up. He can’t even blend into the sky with scales like that!”

“Weird…would that mean that the magic didn’t work all the way?” Fishlegs mused, staring off into the distances with glazed-over eyes. He lowered his voice and seemed to talk to himself. “I wonder what it’s like, though,” He murmured, kicking at a stone in the ground. “He must be miserable. I can’t even begin to imagine…”

I frowned. I remembered that when we were all little, Hiccup and Fishlegs would do everything together. But once Hiccup became more of a screw-up and the tribe began to treat him harsher, the bookworm gradually switched ‘sides’. Sometimes I’d see him having short conversations with Hiccup, but Fishlegs would quickly end it and get away from Hiccup once he realized that someone was watching. Thinking back on it, I realized that every time that happened, Hiccup had looked so hurt…

It bothered me.

I noticed that Ruffnut looked troubled, too. Her twin, on the other hand, snorted.

“If he isn’t dead. I doubt he survived that thunderstorm we had last night. I mean, _we_ barely got through it all in one piece!” He waved his arms about. “I think that looking for him is pointless. All we’re going to do is find a cold, dead, rotting body that used to belong to the town screwup. Not much of a loss to me.” He crossed his arms and leaned back on his heels, giving Fishlegs an arrogant grin.

“Hey!” Fishlegs snapped in an uncharacteristic bout of anger. “Don’t say that!”

“Lighten up, fatty,” Snotlout waved his hand dismissively at the steaming Fishlegs. “He’s only telling the truth.” He slouched slightly, adding more flair to his ‘I don’t care’ attitude. Fishlegs gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“Maybe he’s not, _idiot,_ ” Ruffnut pushed Tuffnut to the side and directed her attention towards her twin. “Quit acting like you know everything!”

Tuffnut pushed her back with equal force and pressed his forehead against hers, locking the horns on each of their helmets together in a vice. “Maybe I do! How would _you_ know?!”

Ruffnut leaned towards him. “How would _you?!_ ”

I rested my forehead in my hand when the two began to squabble. It was downright _impossible_ to have a normal conversation with these people.

_Why am I friends with them again…?_

Fishlegs seemed to have the same thought patterns. He heaved a long-suffering sigh and walked over to me. “I really don’t think we should be doing this,” he looked me right in the eye. “And I don’t appreciate you using me in the least bit.”

“You chose to come here yourself,” I pointed out, “and you care about Hiccup. I called this meeting to _help_ him.”

“No,” Fishlegs hissed, lowering his voice and leaning towards me, “you came here to help the _village_.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Snotlout (who had been standing aside and eavesdropping) beat me to it.

“Hey!” He spoke as if he were scolding Fishlegs. The muscled teenager pushed his way between us and glared at the smaller boy, but made sure to look over his shoulder, grin, and say, “Don’t worry, babe, I’ve got this covered.” Swiftly turning towards the cowering Fishlegs, he went right up to his face and shouted, “Who are you to command Astrid around?! She’s the one who called this meeting, and she’s certainly higher-ranking than you in skills! That means that _she_ tells _you_ what to do, not the opposite!” He raised a fist, face scrunched up in sudden anger.

“Enough!” I pushed between them, shoving both of them to the side. Fishlegs squealed when he came close to toppling over the cliff, bunny-hopped to the side, and jogged over to a safe distance. Snotlout crossed his arms and raised his chin proudly, nodding in agreement as if he’d _let_ me say all that.

Choosing to ignore it, I continued to rant, “HEY! Stop it! If I wanted to listen to you all fight with each other, then I’d have just stayed at home! We’re here for a _reason!_ ” I held my arms out, palms facing up, and I raised my eyebrows at them. “Don’t you all even _care?_ One of our own got turned into a _dragon_ , and you’re busy having little catfights?! The entire village is a mess! We should be trying to fix it instead of fighting! Plus,” I added at Fishleg’s pointed look, “we seem to be the only ones even trying to help Hiccup.”

( I still don’t understand why Fishlegs keeps pestering me about Hiccup. I _do_ care for his well-being, and I _do_ want him to be normal again. But if the entire tribe is wrecked, under _no circumstances_ should one person be put in front of everyone else.)

The all looked at each other guiltily. I heaved a deep breath and massaged the corners of my eyes for a few seconds to calm down.

“Look, with Chief Stoick out of the picture, we need to act fast. What if a trading-ship comes by and sees us?” I motioned towards the vast ocean as if there were boats on the horizon.

“Well, Astrid,” Ruffnut reasoned after a few silent moments, “we have to give him time. It’s only been two days, right? We should just wait. Chief’ll get better.” She leaned back and crossed her arms behind her neck, sticking her elbows up into the air. “We just need to wait!”

I shook my head defiantly. While Ruffnut was a good friend, I couldn’t help but be mad at her. Of all times, she chose to be lazy _now_? “And while we do, the Night Fury runs loose!” I pointed at the forest. “What if it attacks a little kid, or a fishing ship? What if it decides to lay waste to the village? What if,” I paused for a split second before continuing, “what if it turns Hiccup against us?”

“…I don’t think Hiccup would do that,” Fishlegs stated after a long silence.

“Yeah,” Snotlout agreed. “I mean, you’re making perfect sense, Astrid! But…I can’t imagine my cousin turning into a traitor. But if he does…” He held up a fist and growled, “I’ll make sure he wishes the Night Fury killed him instead!” Tuffnut loudly voiced his agreement and high-fived his friend, grinning widely.

“Heh, he wouldn’t know what hit ‘em!”

“ _Anyways_ ,” I regained their attention. “Since nobody is doing anything, and I know where Hiccup stayed the night, I think we should go find him and try to get him to come back. If he came back with us, then we’d show the village that they can trust him, and Chief Stoick would finally be able to step up and lead us again. Then, everything would get back to normal…sort of.”

“Astrid!” Fishlegs reprimanded. He shook his head wildly. “It’s impossible for that to happen.” He slouched, eyebrows pulling down. “Nothing’s _ever_ going to be the same again.”

“Yeah, so why bother?” Tuffnut chimed in.

“I think she’s right,” Snotlout declared. “Besides, it’s not like we’re going on without a leader. My dad’s doing just fine for now.”

I frowned. Spitelout, Snotlout’s father, was Chief Stoick’s brother. While Spitelout was doing alright for now, his decisions were rash and usually never thought-out. I was more worried about this than anything; a weak leader makes a weak tribe. And a weak tribe gets wiped out by the stronger ones. We’d be vulnerable to both the dragons and the other Vikings!

“Yeah, for _now_ ,” Fishlegs glowered at Snotlout. “Do you really think he could handle a dragon raid right now? I mean, Astrid _does_ make a few points. The village is still trying to recover from…you know…and it’s the perfect chance to attack us. Spitelout wouldn’t be able to get his bearings straight if the dragons suddenly decided to strike. Besides, I’m really starting to doubt his leading skills after this morning.”

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and I voiced our agreement. Earlier today, Spitelout had tried to send out a hunting part towards the forest for the Night Fury. He’d rallied a huge mob together and charged into the forest…completely forgetting to wait for his group. About an hour later, members of the mob had started to return to the village in confusion; apparently, nobody could find Spitelout. He’d appeared later, very frustrated and embarrassed, and went to Chief Stoick’s house for the gods-know-what.

Snotlout grudgingly crossed his arms and looked away. “I see what you’re getting at,” he muttered darkly.

“Don’t you guys see now? This tribe _needs_ Chief Stoick, and he’s not doing anything because Hiccup is gone. Plus, as I’ve already told you, I have a plan.” I smiled determinedly and push a fisted hand into an open palm.

Ruffnut turned to me. “I know that look. Are you coming up with some more crazy ideas, or is the plan the same?” She grinned widely. I smiled back. Well, it looks like someone suddenly found their courage. At least she was actually _agreeing_ with me.

“Just as I said before. Find Hiccup and take him back to the village.”

“And after that?” Fishlegs pressed worriedly.

I shrugged. “We’ll play it by ear. But I’m sure if Hiccup comes with us, then he won’t get attacked. Especially if we surround him without any weapons when we bring him into the village.”

“I’m in,” Snotlout declared. “You’re right. If nobody is doing anything, then we should!”

Just as I had hoped, Tuffnut caved at seeing his best friend side with me. “I’m going, too!” He grinned maliciously and pounded his fist into the air. His blue eyes shone with a dangerous glint from behind his long locks of golden-blond hair. “We’ve got all we need, now. I can totally handle this!”

We all looked at Fishlegs. He flinched under our gazes and seemed to try to shrink into himself like a turtle would. “U-uh, I think I should go home, my mom needs—“

“You’re coming.” I stated flatly.

The overweight teenager’s eyebrows pulled down and he opened his mouth to speak. We all cut him off with equally harsh looks, stopping him in his tracks.

“… _Fine._ ”

* * *

 

Don’t you love it when a cold blast of wind wakes you up?

 

I jumped to my feet with a start, misinterpreting it as an attack. It took me a few seconds, but I finally got my sleep-fogged brain to jump into reality. Remembering that I was in the gods-forsaken gorge, I calmed down. Once I had, I noticed right away how the clouds above covered the entire sky.

When I started to look around, a sharp pain in my head made me gasp and stop. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to get rid of the throbbing in it.

_Ugh…what hit me?_

In a flash, my memories leaped out at me.

Finding the human. Taunting him and getting him out of hiding. Him attacking me. Our long conversation. Being knocked out by a too-powerful fireblast.

I spun around wildly, snarling. Where was he?! If he ran away, I’d--!

My tail lashed and thumped on something behind me. Something hard and warm. Startled, I looked over my shoulder at the mysterious object and nearly jumped out of my scales in shock. The human was right there! Was he _mad?_ Why had he decided to just sleep next to me?! (Unless, of course, he passed out from using too much energy for that blast of fire.)

I glared at his sleeping form. His wings were folded against his body and his long tail was wrapped around his side. He was resting his head soundly on his two front paws and was curved slightly inward, making him look much smaller than he usually was. I could tell from his breathing that he wasn’t faking.

 _This is the perfect opportunity!_ I thought. _He wouldn’t even realize I was killing him until it was too late._

 

I lowered myself into a crouch, eyes narrowed.

_Come on! Do it! You want this!_

Yet I still didn’t move. It was like I was faking out, like I did when I needed to jump into the ocean but didn’t want to. Something in the corner of my mind was telling me that something was very, very wrong. After depending on my gut instinct for so many years, I was a little reluctant to go against it.

_KILL HIM!_

 

I squeezed my eyes shut. _What’s wrong with me?_ I thought in desperation. _Yesterday, I would’ve done this without hesitation…why can’t I do it now?! Come on, Shadow-Blender! It’s not that hard!_ I opened them and glared at the sleeping Viking. _Do it NOW! He shot you down **twice**! He made it impossible for you to fly! You’re not going to get into the sky again – Ever! Your magic alone cannot fix your tailfin! He deserves it! He is a vile, horrible creature that the world could do well without! _

I decided to go with that train of thought. I opened my mouth and retracted my teeth, trying to conjure the fireblast up as silently as possible. Gas flew out of my throat and into my mouth, my chest tightened, and I started to lean harder into the ground so I wouldn’t get knocked back. The tiny, high-pitched sound of the fire being built up and heated started to emerge from the back of my throat. The human’s ears twitched a few times, but he didn’t wake up.

 _Killing something while it’s defenseless is dishonorable,_ a part of me brought to my attention, _and something still isn’t right._ I immediately hated myself for thinking that—since when was killing a human dishonorable?! But it made me falter, which my mind took as an opportunity to start flooding my head with memories of the previous day, as if it were controlled by something else.

 _“I’m paying a higher price. You’ve lost a tailfin. I’ve lost my family, friends, village, and_ body _. You took my_ life _away from me and enjoyed—every—second. How is that remotely fair?”_ The human’s voice echoed in my head. My fireblast abruptly died in my distraction.Losing a tailfin is a death sentence for a dragon of my kind. It was devastating when I found out that I wouldn’t be able to fly; the thing I loved more than anything in the world.

 

_“So, you won’t admit your mistake?”_

 

Suddenly he was screaming. _“We are_ here _! This is about_ us _!”_

And then he was wailing. _“Put_ me _in_ your _place?! Why don’t you take your own advice! If I turned you into a human and dropped you off inside a nest of human-eating dragons, wouldn’t you be desperate to fix things? Wouldn’t you try_ everything _in your power to get back to normal? There are so many things wrong with your argument!_ Just listen to me! _”_

I groaned and lowered my head, rubbing it with my left forepaw. I wanted the voice to stop! I should not be feeling this way! He deserved it! He was sentenced to death the second he shot me down and revealed me to the entire human tribe—and broke my tailfin.

Out of nowhere, I heard his voice whisper sadly, _“I don’t want to fight anymore.”_

Startled, I shot my head up and stared at him. He hadn’t moved an inch. In fact, the only thing around him that seemed to be in motion was the tall grass lightly swaying in its own random beat, giving out a pleasant ‘swishing’ sound that I usually loved to listen to.

 _Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. Grass? Didn’t I pass out over…there?_ I turned around as I thought this, slowly feeling pieces of this strange puzzle coming together. I could clearly find the spot where I’d been hit; there were scorch marks on the cliffside that surrounded a dragonlike shape that had been protected by my body. It almost looked as if someone had painted the wall black and then erased parts of it to look like a Shadow-Blender’s silhouette. _How did I…?_

 

I gasped softly. On the ground, there was a deep trail that cut into the earth and ran from the cliff to the grassy area I was standing in now. Next to the deep, wide scar in the ground was equally deep footprints that looked similar to my own. Judging by how far into the soil the footprints were, and how their sides had slight scratch-marks, I could tell that whatever had been moving was putting all of it’s weight—and more—onto its feet.

Like it was…dragging something…heavy…

I padded to a footprint and sniffed at it warily. The human’s scent leaped into my nose, along with a very faint fear-scent (he’d been scared? I thought he’d done that on purpose.), and _blood_. I could see little red dots littering the ground and stones. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and behind my left wing to look at the human. His feet were dirty, and I could see dried blood on his claws and the undersides of his paws. The scales on his feet were covered in a fine layer of dirt, making him look as if he’d stepped in mud and not even bothered to clean it off.

The realization hit me as hard as the weapon that had brought me down.

The Viking had dragged me here. On purpose. He’d managed to get the two of us to the more comfortable grass-filled area before passing out from exhaustion, and has not awakened yet. And when I woke up, I immediately tried to kill him…

I shook my head at the guilt. _Guilt!_ I was so **_angry_** and **_ashamed_** at myself. What, so one kind action and my heart just melts?!

 _I’m such a disgrace,_ I snarled to myself. _Feeling guilty for a human. Damn._

 

I was so confused. Why would he do that? Why would he even care? It’s not like I had been kind to him. In fact, I’d done the opposite in hopes that he would start a fight and wear himself out, so I could kill him easier. But that conversation…it had…it had done _something_ , for sure. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to accept it. I was in the right! He’d done this to himself!

That didn’t stop me from wondering why the hell he’d helped me. I wanted to _know!_ It was eating away at me!

 

 _Well…the only way to know is to wait,_ I reasoned with myself bitterly.

 

I grumbled several curses and sat down, glaring at the human in irritation. He was definitely going to pay for this. (He really needed to make up his mind on how to treat me; one minute, he’s attacking me, the next, he’s begging, and then he’s attacking me again, and finally, he’s being nice! What the hell?)

 _Stupid human,_ I thought darkly, tail twitching wildly. _I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m so weak._ He twitched in his sleep, making me halt and prick my ears up. The human-dragon went back into his peaceful slumber. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. _I wonder why he did that? He certainly didn’t have to. Most humans wouldn’t even care about a dragon’s comfort when it woke up. But he did--wait a minute._

 

For the second time in a short time, realization hit me like a cold, hard blast of icy water that made my entire body freeze and tense up.

The human had had time to drag us all the way over here—a good few hundred meters.

He’d had _time._

 

He could have killed me…and _he didn’t._

 

I blinked several times as sudden confusion came over me for the second time. We obviously hated each other. It couldn’t be any clearer. And yet, he’d decided not to kill me. I doubt the idea never crossed his mind; he’d shot me down, for the gods’ sake! So…this human was up to something. He’d chosen to bring me to a more comfortable area and spared (ugh, I hate to say it, but it’s true.) my life when I was weak and defenseless.

Was he trying to trick me?

I narrowed my eyes at the thought. It was the only reasonable answer.

Well, two can play at that game. I’ll return his little game twice as hard. Even if it does mean being _nice_ to him.

 _We’ll see. But for now, I guess I can repay my debt_ (we Shadow-Blenders are very honorable dragons.) _by not killing him until he wakes up._

 

I allowed myself to lie down, folding my wings up and swishing my tail slightly. I never took my eyes off of the Viking. The clouds above us crawled at a slow pace, the wind blew slightly, and the few birds that hadn’t migrated south chirped loudly to each other. It was a peaceful scene, and I was thankful for the momentary quiet.

Little did I know that it wouldn’t be so silent for very long.

Several hours later, as my patience was wearing thin, the human finally started to pull himself out of dreamland. I never moved an inch, simply watching him as he slowly uncurled himself, opened his eyes, yawned, and began to stretch. I raised an eyebrow when he looked right past me with a dull, sleepy expression. It took a few seconds for his deep-green eyes to finally rest on me.

“AAAAH!”

I flinched at the loud noise. The human scrambled to his feet and backpedaled away, tripping over his tail and falling onto his back, leaving his wings in a _very_ uncomfortable position.

“…oooow.”

I burst out into laughter. Oh, gods, that was good! I’d _never_ seen anything like that before! It was priceless!

I continued to snicker when he slowly rolled over, shook his body, and looked at me in embarrassment. He sheepishly turned his body towards me and tipped his head to the side, probably wondering why I was lying on the ground instead of attacking him (to be honest, I still wasn’t so sure myself).

“Well done, human,” I said after I’d stopped laughing. I rolled my eyes and let a goofy, lopsided grin cross my face. Sometimes, humans could be so _stupid._ But hey, if they give us dragons free entertainment, then I’ll take it.

“Not my fault,” he muttered in an irritated tone. He walked back to his previous resting spot (tumbling slightly) and sat down, eyeing me suspiciously. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back because he was too afraid to say it. I felt a familiar spark of giddiness light up inside me a t scaring him. _I’m still a true Shadow-Blender, I still scare him!_ The only problem was that it suddenly died away and left an empty, blank feeling. I frowned.

Pushing it away, I stared into his eyes. After a long silence that he obviously wasn’t going to break, I spoke up.

“Why did you do it?”

He blinked. “Do what? What are you—oh. Heh.” He smiled sheepishly. I gave him an annoyed glare and motioned with my head for him to continue. His grin disappeared and he looked down at his feet.

“Well…I don’t really know how to explain this…”

I won’t even bother trying to translate the stuttering he said for you, dear reader. All you need to know is that the little human-dragon let loose a bunch of sounds that didn’t sound in the least bit like rational speech. I watched silently as he vocally tripped over himself--just as badly as before--again and again, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. I wasn’t sure whether to be amused or annoyed.

He finally spoke up, his voice confident but shaky. “I don’t want to fight anymore.”

I froze. Hadn’t I heard him say that earlier?

I looked deep into his eyes, the window of every creature’s soul. They held honesty in them. But…

“How do I know you won’t trick me?” I turned my head to the side slightly and narrowed one eye at him. “What can make me think you aren’t trying to earn my trust and then use it for your own good? Because this is certainly what this all looks like.”

His eyes widened. “I did this,” he stated in a highly annoyed and slightly angry pitch, “because I didn’t want you to sleep on all of those rocks. And because I _actually_ don’t want to fight. There is no other motive behind this!” He snapped the last part out at me. I narrowed my eyes in anger and opened my mouth.

“Wait!” He cut me off. “Just…stop. Please.”

I abruptly stood up. He tensed, but didn’t move otherwise. I began to circle around him, and while I did, I growled, “That wasn’t very convincing. Do you take me for a fool? I know that you just want to earn my trust so I can change you back. Then you’d run off to your village, which I still doubt will even _accept_ you. You’re pathetic.” I stopped in front of him. “And if you _are_ telling the truth, then tell me the actual reason.”

I saw his tail flick, and his ears and side-frills pressed back slightly. “I-I-I _am_ telling the truth. It’s just…it’s really hard to explain.” He tipped his head to the side and his eyes glazed over slightly as he went into deep thought. “I don’t want to fight…I’d give anything in the world for everything to get back to normal. But who am I kidding?” He mumbled the last part. I pricked my ears.

“What was that?” I asked innocently. Did he just admit that he’d accepted his dragon body? Disbelief washed over me.

“Nothing!” He looked away from me.

“Tell me,” I pressed. “I heard you say _something._ ”

“I said that nothing would be the same!” The Viking suddenly snapped. He spun his head towards me. “I don’t know _anything_ anymore!” He got up and started pacing a distance away from me, ignoring my bewildered stare. “For the love of Thor, I’m a _dragon!_ How could I ever expect my village to take me back?! They’ll…they’ll outcast me…I’ll never get to see any of them again…I’ll never feel loved again…not like I did before—well, sort of, but…” He abruptly stopped and dropped his head low to the ground. “Why didn’t you just kill me? It would have been easier for everyone!”

 _Well, didn’t see that coming. Thought he was going to yell at me to change him back. Damn._ I mused. _What did he mean by ‘not like he did before’? Does that mean I was right about him being an outcast? It explains why he’d been able to shoot me down in the first place—he_ was _acting out in a last-ditch effort to avoid being exiled!_

A part of me was shocked that he’d just voiced what I’d been thinking yesterday. I brushed it off, though, and replied as emotionlessly as I could, “I have my reasons.”

“Well, tell me!” He turned around towards me and snarled, baring half-sheathed teeth. I jumped to my feet on impulse and arched my back, sheathing my own teeth to their full extent. “Why are you keeping secrets?! What do you have to lose?! _Just tell me why you did this!”_ He screamed—no, roared. I heard the entire forest around us go silent at the terrifying noise he’d just made (terrifying for them, not me, of course.).

I instantly was on the defensive. “I already told you! You shot me down! You dishonored me and endangered my species! I can’t fly anymore! Isn’t that enough reason?!” I crouched low and hissed at him, lashing my tail wildly behind me.

“No!” He yelled back just as angrily. “That’s your reason for turning me into a dragon! I want to know _why_ you chose to do that instead of killing me!” He briskly walked over to me. I let out a warning growl that he ignored. Stopping just out of striking distance, he spat out, “ _Tell me!_ What’s holding you back?!”

I weighed the pros and the cons of telling him the truth. If I told him, he’d be pissed. If I simply refused…he’d be more pissed. And much more whiney. But more importantly, I didn’t want him to activate his magical abilities again. By now, I’d already figured out that they were linked to his emotions. Making him angry would only end up with me being hit with another supercharged fire blast, which I could hardly get away from without my beloved flight--not exactly on my ‘to-do’ list.

I decided on the truth. He was starting to get on my nerves, and I wanted to silence him for a bit. He needed to learn his place.

“I wanted you to suffer.” I spoke slowly and calmly. He recoiled as if I’d slapped him. Backing up, he regarded me with the coldest look I’ve ever seen.

“Well, congratulations. I’d clap, but I’m no longer in my correct body.” The sarcasm and accusation dripped off of his voice like rain in a fierce storm. “You’ve doomed me! I can no longer go to my family and friends and home. I doubt I’ll ever get a good spot in the afterlife now, either. Good job, Night Fury!” He gave me an evil look. “I really, truly hope that this is what you wanted. Are you happy now?”

‘No’ was the immediate answer that came to mind. And I hated it. This _is_ what I wanted. He was suffering! He was in pain! Things had gone exactly as planned! So why was this human making everything so much harder?! I felt as if I were caught up in a storm, flying through the air, unable to get into shelter. Somehow, impossibly, this human was becoming a significant influence on my decisions and thoughts on them. He was just so… _different_.

I despised him with all my being for it. He was changing me, a Shadow-Blender! We’ve only had two real conversations and he’s already making me question myself! It made me realize just how much of a trickster human he was. What if he was _planning_ this?

“Yes,” I all but snarled.

“Then turn me back to normal! You’ve had your fun!” The Viking cried. Gods, he wasn’t going to stop saying that, wasn’t he?

I shook my head forcefully. “No.”

He glowered. “Why not?”

I spat out the first thought that came to mind. “Because it’s impossible! Once you change a creature’s form once, it can never be turned back again. No dragon is strong enough to reject the type of magic that is flowing through your body, not even me. You’d be lucky if a _group_ of Shadow-Blenders tried to take it out of you.” Okay, maybe that was pushing it. I stopped myself there, worried that I’d contradict myself, and settled for a pointed glare.

The human’s expression had slowly grown from outrage, to horror, to a deep sadness that nearly came off of him in waves. He stared at me with wide eyes and slitted pupils, as if seeing me for the first time.

“Oh.”

We fell into silence again. The Viking hunched over, and his shoulders, wings, and legs began shaking. I squinted at him in confusion. What was he doing?

It wasn’t until I saw tears sliding down his face that I realized he was crying. An involuntary croon escaped me in surprise. The human looked up at me…and in his eyes, I could tell that I’d broken him. No, **_shattered_**. It was as if I could see his soul being destroyed, shredded right before my eyes.

I sensed a (unfortunate) temporary link, formed by magic, rush between us. I could feel all of his emotions. I didn’t hear his thoughts at all, but more _felt_ them. I gasped softly. I felt as if my heart was being ripped right out of my chest before my very eyes.

I had crossed the line. It was _me_ who had made everything worse. How ironic; I was thinking about that just before he shot me down, and I was the one responsible. I’d done what I had specifically pointed out to myself that I never wanted to happen.

 _What…what do I do now?_ I thought helplessly, staring into his eyes, unable to unlock our gazes. He sniffed once and closed them, releasing me of his hold. Instead of crying loudly like he’d done before, he just lied down and covered his face in his paws, wrapping his tail around his head to block everything out. His entire body heaved and he curled into himself even tighter until he looked smaller than I thought possible for a dragon his size.

I was really getting tired of all this confusion. I officially have no idea what to think of this Viking. I was right before. He was _different_. He was unlike any human in my entire life.

I was expecting him to get angry. I had wanted him to get mad at me, so I could justify an attack. I had wanted to _fight_ him and get rid of him once and for all. But at the same time, I’d wanted to do nothing more than just leave him and forget about him forever.

I took in a deep breath to try and clear my head. It didn’t work.

What do I do? I certainly wasn’t going to comfort him. Attacking him seemed reasonable…yet I couldn’t after literally staring into his soul and feeling the internal turmoil within.

For the second time, the human was crying, and I had no idea what to do. I had never needed to comfort another dragon for anything—all of the ones in the tribe were brainwashed. They barely felt anything. I’d never had to deal with an emotionally scarred dragon…especially with me being the one who’d done it to said dragon.

In the end, I backed up several paces and sat down. I settled on watching the lake. The only sounds I could hear were the human’s soft gasps of agony.

I covered my face with my paws and wrapped my tail around myself. Sleep felt good right now.

* * *

When we first heard the roaring, we’d all stopped dead in our tracks.

Fishlegs had gasped loudly. Snotlout had let out a small whimper and tried to cover it up with a cough, stepping in front of everyone in a fake show of manliness. The twins had stopped in their fight and grabbed for anything they could use as a weapon. I’d gripped my newly-acquired axe and gritted my teeth.

“M-m-maybe we should go back,” Fishlegs stuttered.

“No,” I rejected, “we didn’t come in here for nothing.”

“Yeah!” Snotlout instantly agreed. “We’re going through with this!”

Tuffnut let out an unsure sound. “I don’t know,” he tried to reason with us, “maybe we’re out of our league. I mean, we haven’t even started dragon training yet, and you want us to go against two Night Furies?!”

“One,” I corrected. “And if Hiccup helps, then I doubt it’ll win.”

“Still…”

Ruffnut spoke up. “What if—“

A loud, deafening caterwaul split through the air. I gasped loudly, covering my ears. My ears rung painfully.

“Ow! My ears!” Tuffnut complained. “There is _no way_ I’m going close to something _that angry!_ ” He glared in the general direction of the sound. Another dragon had responded to the scream and was matching it with equal volume, and dare I say, more force?

“I never knew dragons fought like that…it doesn’t sound like they’re battling at all!” Fishlegs pondered aloud. He flinched when another scream ripped through our ears and suddenly seemed to realize what exactly the sources of the terrible sounds were. “Uh...I’m not _that_ curious. Maybe we should go,” he repeated himself.

“Seriously, Astrid!” Ruffnut grabbed my shoulder. “We’ll get killed if we go there right now! Let’s wait for them to cool off!”

I shook my head. “Hiccup is doing half of that screaming. That means he’s mad, which means he’ll be more willing to fight that Night Fury _with us_! Now is perfect! We have to corner it right now!” I leaned down and picked up my axe, shifting into a battle stance. “Are you all cowards?”

Snotlout looked uncertain. “I don’t know, Astrid. I-I mean, of course I’ll go with you, and I’ll beat that dragon senseless! But the _others_ aren’t so sure.” He offered me a weak grin.

Tuffnut scoffed. “Please! You seem to be the most scared. Besides Fishlegs.”

“Hey!” Said teenager exclaimed indignantly.

I huffed, blowing my bangs out of my face. Were these people really that spineless? Excuse the audacity, but where were the people like me?

“I’m going,” I stated. I continued to walk towards the grove, where I’d last seen Hiccup, and where the noises were coming from.

“Astrid, wait!” Ruffnut pulled me back. I looked over my shoulder at her. “Please, Astrid, just think this through. You’re a great fighter and all, but I doubt a dragon _that_ powerful would have trouble defeating us! Even with Hiccup’s help! We need to rethink this, and tell Chief Stoick about it so he can send out a party!”

“What, are we not good enough?” I countered. Ruffnut let go of me and frowned. “We’re Vikings! We were born to fight! And you’re going to stop because you _think_ that we’ll lose? You’re not even going to _try?_ ” I gave the now-uncertain Ruffnut a grin and held up a fist. “Plus, if we do fight, we’d get some pretty cool battle scars. And we’d be treated with great honor and respect for taking down a Night Fury without any training! Just imagine!”

My best friend immediately brightened up, a devious smile crossing her face. She held up her own fisted hand and bumped it against mine in our ‘secret handshake’ that we’d created years ago and continued to do out of tradition. “I guess you’re right,” she finally agreed. In a too-serious tone, she added, “But if anyone gets _too_ hurt, I’m blaming you.”

“Fair enough.” I lowered my hand.

“Woah, woah! Wait!” Tuffnut chimed in, “You’re actually going through with this? Astrid, you’re not as good as you think you are! You were _lucky_ to get away from that Night Fury! Don’t push your luck!”

Snotlout shoved him harshly in the back. “Hey!” He yelled. “Don’t talk to her like that! Astrid wasn’t _lucky_ , she was _skilled!_ You’re just jealous because you could never do what she did!” He pointed an accusing finger at the blond twin, making him go slightly cross-eyed.

Tuffnut pushed the hand away with an annoyed scowl. “Yeah, well, I’m not planning to! I am _so_ out of here!” He spun around on his heel and started to march back the way we’d come, slowly disappearing into the underbrush. He was halfway out of our sight when his twin sister sprinted out after him, grabbed his arm, and yanked him back.

“You’re the first one who agreed to this, moron!” She shouted at him.

“No, you were, buttelf!” Tuffnut countered.

“At least I’m staying with the group!”

“At least I’m trying to save my own skin!”

“At least _I_ actually care!”

“I DO care!”

Ruffnut raised an eyebrow.

“What?! I do!” Tuffnut crossed his arms.

Annoyed, I interrupted them. “Ruffnut! Tuffnut! Focus!”

“Um, hey, guys?” Fishlegs spoke up in a tiny voice.

We ignored him. “No! You’re being ridiculous, Astrid!” Tuffnut pointed at me, knocking Ruffnut aside simultaneously. “You want us to fight a _Night Fury!_ A _Night Fury!_ And what, to help the village? We should just tell everyone where Hiccup is and let them do the rest. Plus, we don’t even know if he’s alive!”

“What, so that Night Fury is just loudly scolding itself?” Ruffnut countered. She narrowed her eyes in false anger and made her voice low-pitched and scratchy. “Stupid me! I wanted to jump, dive, and _then_ roll, not dive, roll, and then jump! And what the hell is wrong with me, stepping right-left instead of left-right?!”

Fishlegs tried to regain our attention again. “Guys?”

  
Snotlout grinned widely at Ruffnut’s commentary that had happened to fit perfectly in with the roars. “I’m still in!” He shook Tuffnut in the shoulder. “Come on! Man up! Or are you not Viking enough? Are you going to do what Hiccup always did?”

Oooooh _snap_.

Tuffnut stuttered. He glanced between us, and his annoyed and grudging expression slowly melted into nervous grin. “Alright…but I’m with my annoying sister. If anyone gets hurt, you’re responsible.” He pointed at me.

“Guys!”

We all looked at the now-irritated Fishlegs.

“Aren’t any of you paying attention?” He asked in exasperation.

“To what?” I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly in confusion.

Fishlegs gestured to the forest. “Just listen!”

We all lapsed into silence. My eyes widened slightly when I realized that the draconic screaming had stopped. “They’re not fighting?”

“Only one way to find out,” Ruffnut announced. She shifted her weight and gestured for me to lead. “Would you mind showing the way, Ms. Ambitious?”

“Don’t make me throw you into that tree!” I grinned at her. She scoffed dramatically, leaned back, and made ‘oh no she didn’t’ gestures with her hands. Everyone started to laugh. Tuffnut and Snotlout even started wolf-whistling.

Recollecting myself, I waved my arm towards myself in the universal sign of ‘follow me’ and started to stalk my way deeper into the forest and closer to the gorge (looking over my shoulder, I was happy to see that everyone was following.). We all fell silent as we got closer and closer to the Night Fury and Hiccup’s hiding spot. I took notice of the sheer _quietness_ of the forest. Everything was still, as if someone had drawn an enormous, lifelike picture. The sound of the undergrowth moving beneath our feet was like booming thunder compared to the abnormal silence of the otherwise dangerous forest.

I realized that we were about to cross out into the small clearing just in time. Gasping softly, I dug my feet into the ground and spread my arms out eagle-style, gritting my teeth when all four of my friends bumped into me and nearly pushed me out towards the hidden area. I hissed a warning to them and dropped down low, motioning for them to do the same. We all started fanning out, each one of us positioned about a meter away from each other. I pushed Fishlegs when he crouched down right next to me, but he shook his head defiantly.

I moved the undergrowth to the side and slowly began to belly-crawl towards the edge of the cliff. I calculated each step to be in time with any other background noise, silently sending a thanks to the gods for deciding to make today windy. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw everyone else doing the same thing. We crept towards the edge.

Everyone gave soft gasps. There were two new additions to the bottom of the canyon. One, there was an enormous hole in the middle of one side of the cove. Two, an entire wall was broken apart and crumbled. It looked…shattered.

I narrowed my eyes at it. What had happened to it?

I finally tore my gaze away from the wall when I realized why we’d come here. I looked down into the canyon and felt my heart skip a beat.

There wasn’t a dragon in sight.

_What?! How could Hiccup have possibly been able to get out? I doubt he’d want to try to fly out of there…_

I continued to search for the dark-brown Night Fury with pine green and silver-flecked eyes. There were certainly hiding places for him, and judging by the last time we’d actually seen each other, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him trying to keep out of sight. But we’d heard another Night Fury, so where did it go? Had it flown off and abandoned Hiccup?

A cold dread creeped up on me. _Did it kill Hiccup?_

I shuddered at the thought.

Tuffnut startled Fishlegs and me (we both jumped and covered our mouths to avoid from squeaking) by whispering, “This is pointless!” He began to stand up, staring down into the cove cautiously. “I don’t see _anything_ down there.”

“Get down!” Snotlout, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and I all hissed in unison. If the circumstances were different, I’m sure we would have all looked at each other with surprised expressions and burst out laughing. Lucky for us, we were trying to stop one annoying Viking from getting himself blown up by a hiding Night Fury.

“I’m sure Hiccup’s just trying to hide, so _get down!_ ” I rushed to explain. I continued to make ‘get down’ gestures at Tuffnut until he finally complied with an exasperated sigh and roll of his eyes. I sighed myself, placing my head in my unoccupied hand. _There is not enough face to palm…_

I felt my face drained of all color when, as Tuffnut placed all of his weight on his hands while sitting down, the rock beneath him cracked at lightning-speed and fell apart.

Tuffnut screamed. Ruffnut shrieked his name with an unnatural amount of fear in it, lunging towards her brother’s feet. She grabbed him, but he had already gone over the edge. His greater body weight began to drag my best friend down to her death.

That wasn’t going to happen if _I_ could help it.

“No!” I lunged for her, took hold of her thigh, and began pulling. Snotlout and Fishlegs were at my side in an instant. “Hold on, you two! Ruffnut, don’t let go!”

“What do you think I’m doing?!” She hollered at me.

“Why don’t you concentrate more on me?!” Tuffnut wailed. He suddenly gasped, and for one terrifying moment, I thought Ruffnut had dropped him.

It wasn’t until I heard Fishlegs whisper a certain Viking’s name that I realized what had happened.

I risked a glance out into the gorge. A sleek, mud-covered Night Fury was leaping down from the cliffside, uncamouflaging himself from it (so _that’s_ why I didn’t see him! His scales blended in perfectly!). Hiccup’s eyes were wide, his pupils were mere slits in fear, and he let out a high-pitched, fearful warbling sound when he finally reached solid ground. The side of the cove he was on formed a right angle with ours, so it took him only a few seconds to sprint the short distance to where Tuffnut was dangling.

The human-turned-dragon situated himself under Tuffnut, who had gone as still as if he were dead, letting out tiny anxious sounds. Hiccup paced slightly, never taking his eyes off of the male twin.

“A-a-aaah! Night Fury!” Tuffnut started to visibly shake. “Don’t drop me! Pull me up! Pull me up!”

Hiccup visibly winced and deflated, yet he stayed right where he was.

“That’s Hiccup!” I wheezed.

I gasped when I began to feel sweat build up on my palms. “Pull!” I commanded as fast as I could. The three of us still on solid ground heaved back as one, slowly lifting Ruffnut from her half-fallen position, and onto solid ground. She was gripping Tuffnut’s feet so hard, I was sure that if she’d grabbed skin, he’d be bleeding. Snotlout and I leaned over and took hold of one of Tuffnut’s legs for each of us, while Fishlegs wrapped his bulky arms around Ruffnut’s chest to keep her in place. “ _PULL!_ ”

We all groaned as we leaned back, struggling to keep a grip on the rapidly-slipping Tuffnut and keep ourselves from falling at the same time. Hiccup cried out from below, anxiousness and dread coloring his voice. Vaguely, a part of me registered that, even in dragon form, he still sounded as if he talking through his nose.

I thanked every god willing to listen when we finally pulled Tuffnut over the edge. Ruffnut tackled him, sending him flying away from the cliff. They embraced each other tightly, burying their faces into each other’s necks. The heartwarming moment lasted for only a second, though, and the two quickly separated and sat up. I fell back on my knees, leaning over slightly to try and regain my breath faster. I heard Snotlout and Fishlegs doing the same.

“That was…too close…” Fishlegs gasped.

“No kidding!” Tuffnut shakily replied. He stood up and looked over the edge warily, staring at Hiccup. “That’s… _Hiccup?_ ”

I nodded, unable to respond.

With a massive intake of air, I forced myself to stand up on shaky legs and stare down at Hiccup. He looked confused and unsure of himself. I noticed that he was crouching slightly, keeping his head low to the ground and arching his back. His wings were folded up against his body and his tail was held straight out. The fact that he was trying to creep away did not escape my attention.

 _At least he’s alive,_ I thought in relief. _But why does he look so scared?_

“Hiccup!” Fishlegs let out an overjoyed whoop. “You’re alive!”

The outcast’s ears perked up at his name and he stopped. He stared at Fishlegs for several seconds before turning his green eyes back on me. He looked into my eyes and trailed them down my body, stopping them at the axe that was by my feet. He looked between me and my weapon until I finally made the connection. I lifted one foot and kicked it behind me.

“Astrid? Are you sure?” Snotlout whispered fearfully. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Hiccup since we’d gotten Tuffnut to safety. “What if he’s the wrong Night Fury?”

“He looks and sounds like Hiccup. It’s definitely him.” I met Snotlout’s gaze. “Don’t you recognize your own cousin?”

Snotlout didn’t respond. A long, tense silence ensued for several minutes. Hiccup began to get nervous and averted his gaze from us several times, staring from the ground in front of him, to the cliffside he’d just come from, and back to us.

Suddenly, his right ear twitched, and he looked back at where he’d been hiding earlier. The Viking seemed to listen to something (he tipped his head to the side and perked his ears). Suddenly, his ears and side frills flattened, and he crouched low to the ground and let out a short hiss. He arched his back high off the ground, giving him a pantherlike form, and spread his wings out slightly. His tail lashed in long, wide arcs.

“That’s a defensive warning!” Fishlegs gasped in sudden recognition. “I think the other Night Fury is—“

We heard it give a strange, throaty call before the evil Night Fury leaped out of the shadows. It jumped onto a rock, baring its teeth at us and crouching low, completely ignoring Hiccup. On the edges of my vision, I saw Fishlegs reach out and grab Ruffnut’s arm and squeeze it.

Hiccup ran a few paces forward, placing himself between us and the snarling Night Fury. He gave a long hiss that was followed by a snap of his jaws and high-pitched trill. The Night Fury focused on him, shifted its weight back and forth a few times, and jumped to the ground. It stalked towards him at a fast pace, making Hiccup mimic it in the opposite distraction. The entire time, the Night Fury gave out a low rumbling sound. Hiccup responded with a somewhat defiant growl.

“What are they doing?” Snotlout asked Fishlegs worriedly.

“I think they’re arguing,” he breathed. “That means that they’re _speaking_ to each other…and _that_ means…” he trailed off. We didn’t need him to fill in the rest.

Hiccup suddenly yelled loudly, shaking his head wildly. The Night Fury growled, leaning in towards him and pointing his nose down. The Viking did the same, and they nearly pressed their foreheads together, each one roaring loudly.

Hiccup suddenly reared his head back and jumped sideways and backwards, lowering his head to the ground and baring his own teeth at the Night Fury. His eyes were mere slits.

Outraged, the demon lifted itself up on its hind legs and spread its wings, flapping them. Hiccup gave another ‘defensive warning’, as Fishlegs put it.

The Night Fury leaped at Hiccup. The teenager scrambled backwards, falling. He rolled over and began to sprint away from the quickly advancing dragon, weaving along the ground like a cat. A clumsy cat, I noted - he tripped several times.

“We have to help him!” Fishlegs howled. “That thing is bigger than him! If it pins him, it’ll be all over!”

I did the first thing that came to mind. I reached behind me, grabbing my axe. Throwing it into the air, I spun on one foot and used my momentum to take hold of it and send it flying through the air towards the Night Fury. At the same time, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, and Fishlegs threw their own weapons (consisting of a club, knives, and another axe) at the beast. Mine and Tuffnut’s were the only ones that hit their target, but it worked.

The Night Fury (not Hiccup) gasped in surprise and gave the weapons a shocked look. Its shock melded into raw anger when it seemed to make the connection, and it stared right at us. We made eye contact. (Strangely, the dragon faltered, but it literally shook it off.) To my horror, it opened its mouth and started an all-too-familiar noise that made me freeze on instinct.

Hiccup was on the thing in the instant, letting out a ferocious snarl so powerful, all of us flinched. He tackled the Night Fury to the ground, using his front two paws to pin its chest to the ground. He looked at us and swung his head to the side, giving us a clear message:

_“Get out of here!”_

“Run!” Ruffnut shouted. She and her twin turned and sprinted off into the forest, closely followed by Snotlout and Fishlegs. I turned to follow and stopped. Looking back, I saw Hiccup jump away from the Night Fury just as it tried to snap at him. He growled loudly at it, making it pause. Then, the teenager looked over at me with fear in his eyes.

I turned and ran away.

* * *

 

I drooped the second Astrid ran away. Great. Just great.

“What the hell?!” The Night Fury shouted in his charmingly loud voice. He rounded towards me and paced around me furiously. “They were threatening us! And you want them to _survive?!_ Are you insane? Do you _want_ them to come back?”

“Yes, because I really have a choice in the matter!” I snapped sarcastically. “Thanks for the attack, by the way! I really enjoyed that, too! Love it when you do unnecessary things like that!”

The Night Fury seemed taken aback by my bold remarks. Recovering, he argued, “ _I_ started it? _You_ were the one who started that fight!”

I blanched. “What?! How?”

He snorted as if the answer was obvious. “Yelling ‘don’t you dare hurt them, or I’ll hurt _you_ ’ seems like a good enough threat.”

“I was defending them! They were tired and scared and you were going to kill them while they were weak!” I paused. “And how is that a threat?”

“You told me you would attack me if I tried to defend _both_ of us from a group of humans _carrying weapons._ ” The Night Fury stalked towards me and stared right into my eyes. “How do you know they didn’t want to kill us? I know for a fact that they were planning on going after _me_. I heard them speaking of it in the forest. Wouldn’t you want to defend yourself if you heard your enemies planning your death?”

I blinked. “What?” I hadn’t heard anything…then again, I’d been crying until the dragon had suddenly pushed me in the side and commanded that I ‘hide unless I wanted to be killed by a group of humans that was heading this way’. Confused, frightened, and uncertain, I’d listened to him and had followed him to the rocky area of the cove. We’d both huddled in a tight little cave and planned to wait for them to leave. Of course, I ditched that plan when I saw Tuffnut almost get killed. I’d left our hiding spot without warning, ignoring the dragon’s hiss. Even though Tuffnut and I were never friends, I couldn’t just let him die! I _knew_ him!

Then the Night Fury had yelled something about it being a trick and how he was going to handle it, and I defended them. And then we’d gotten into a fight.

And now we were in another one. Again.

“Well?” I was pulled out of my thoughts by the incredibly patient Night Fury. He had his paw raised, as if getting ready to slap me.

I stared at him, feeling the sinking, drop-dead feeling of sorrow fill my chest. I didn’t want to have another fight. It may be light-hearted(ish) now, but knowing us, we’d probably end up trying to break each other’s hearts. I just couldn’t handle that right now.

I closed my eyes and answered his previous question. “Yes.”

The Night Fury quieted. I opened my eyes in confusion and saw him studying me with a scrutinizing gaze. I tensed, waiting to see if he would decide to attack.

Coming to a decision, the dragon sat back down. “Alright, then.” He was hunched back slightly and his wings were folded loosely behind him. It made him look very relaxed, which was strange since he was giving me the most serious look I’ve ever seen on any intelligent creature. It was unnerving and _weird_.

I grimaced under the distrustful look he was sending me. I stared at my feet for awhile, and when I looked back up, he was doing the exact same thing! The tension filling the air wasn’t exactly helping, too. If either of us made a sudden move, the other would tense up. But other than that, I’d say we spent a good thirty minutes just staring at each other, neither sure what to do.

It was _awful._

I was actually starting to daydream about a better, happy place when the Night Fury suddenly snorted. I looked over at him immediately, perking my ears.

“Humans are annoying, aren’t they?” He asked softly. “That group of hatchlings looked to be as stubborn as any other of your kind. They’re going to come back.” He wrinkled his nose at the spot where the group of teenagers had been in disgust, as if he were looking at them right this very instant. “Stupid humans.”

“Hey!” I said, offended. “Don’t say that! How would you like it if I went around insulting _your_ kind like that?” I stood up quickly and walked a short distance parallel of him, nearly tripping over my tail in the process… _again_. In anger, I kicked at a small stone. It flew a small distance, ricocheted off of a large boulder, and flew right back at me. It squeezed my eyes shut for a second when it hit me right in the nose. What is it with my luck? Why am I the butt of every joke at the moment?

“Hah!” The Night Fury barked. I frowned at him, trying to look harsh and make my pupils look like itty-bitty slits (you know, the disturbing-scary thing?) like I’d seen him do before. I’m not sure if it worked, since the Night Fury continued to laugh at me. I felt my scales go hot in embarrassment.

“Cut it out!” My voice shook slightly. Surprisingly, the Night Fury actually did stop, and gestured with his head for me to go on. I knew he wanted to continue the conversation, but for the life of me, I could not remember. “What were you saying, again?”

It took him a few seconds, but the Night Fury continued very calmly, “You are a dragon.” He lowered his eyelids at my immediate rejection, his ears dropping and giving him a perfect ‘unamused’ look that made me halt in my tracks. “How can you still consider yourself a human after all of this? Though I hate to admit it, you were right before; you _are_ a _dragon_. An annoying one, at that.” He snorted dismissively.

“Change me back?” I asked hopefully. I widened my eyes and flattened my ears, hopefully pulling off a damn-good ‘cute’ look. I’d done it before and it had actually made the Night Fury waver; maybe if I was adorable enough, he would change me back! (End sarcasm.)

“For the _last_ time, _no!_ Do you think I just go around changing people into dragons for the fun of it?” He twitched his tail irritably. “Asking me a million times does nothing but harden my opinion on it, and you can’t pull of the ‘cute’ look. Seriously…stop…it’s creepy.”

I would have laughed if he hadn’t been serious. Instead, I settled for, “But why can’t you—!“

I stopped myself. If we continued on with this conversation, then it’d end up like the last one. I didn’t want to get into another fight. Chances are I wouldn’t get as lucky. Plus, I was trying to make _amends,_ not widen the gap between us.

The Night Fury gave me a calculating look. As it became apparent that he wasn’t going to talk anytime soon, and that I was waiting for him, he started to change. His eyes went distant, like he wasn’t even here. I noticed that he stopped moving altogether when he got deeper and deeper into whatever he was thinking about.

I sent him an exasperated look in return. If you didn’t count those last few sentences, then we’d been having a generally harmless conversation (By ‘harmless’, I meant that neither of us were getting ready to attack the other.). And now he had to go and ruin it by just cutting himself off from me? Gee, thanks, Night Fury. I’m not trying to be nice to you or anything.

Trying to keep up my sulking attitude, I dropped to the ground, rested my chin on the ground, and wrapped my tail around my side. I stared at him the whole time. His eyes followed me as I moved, but I don’t think the dragon really registered it; he just continued to watch me unblinkingly, as if trying to decide on a major decision that involved me. (Little did I know that that was _exactly_ what he was thinking about.)

Unfortunately, since the Night Fury was so focused on thinking, it made me have no choice but to ponder on what had happened. I gave a sigh, once again feeling depression creep up on me.

 _I never asked for any of this…I wish I wasn’t here. I just want to go home. I want things to go back to normal._ I looked up at the Night Fury and then down to my feet. _I wonder what he thinks about this? Does he still think that this was the right thing to do? Or did I convince him otherwise? I hope so…but I’m not willing to make any bets._

 _I wonder…does he still think I’m trying to trick him? I sucked at my explanation, but I thought that he’d just be able to infer what I was trying to get across. I don’t really blame him, though…I should have just told him my thoughts the second I woke up. It must have been suspicious seeing me stutter and then come up with that. No wonder he doesn’t want anything to do with me…_ I half-covered my eyes with my paws. _But at least I’m trying! Why can’t he see that? Why doesn’t he try to understand? I don’t get it. I mean, he could have killed me, and he didn’t. What made him do that?_

I looked up into his lime-green eyes. They were still distant, elsewhere. _Maybe he’s thinking about the same things…_

 

 _This is stupid,_ I told myself. _Here I am wondering on what this Night Fury is thinking, and he’s standing right in front of me! Maybe I should ask him._ I pondered over this for a few seconds. _He’s never really given me much of a straight answer, though. I’ve always had to dig for them, and by then, we’d both be angry and start another fight._ I sighed again, a bit louder. I moved my head to rest my cheek on my paws and stared out into the still lake.

 _I want…I want things to be normal again. I want to go home and be able to see Gobber and Dad. I just…_ My mind trailed off into soundless sorrow. I closed my eyes.

I heard a soft ‘whumph’ over to my side. I straightened, opened my eyes, and moved my gaze over to it. The Night Fury had mimicked my position and was lying down, too. He was even staring out into the lake. I heard myself give a small noise in response, which caused the Night Fury to immediately turn towards me with narrowed eyes.

 _He doesn’t trust me. I_ want _to trust him, but it’s so hard when he won’t even consider it,_ I thought.

Out of nowhere, an idea popped up in my head. A crazy idea, but one nonetheless. Besides, I’m Hiccup Haddock III; I _always_ do crazy things.

 _Maybe I have to_ show _him that I want to be on good grounds with him. He certainly isn’t listening to words. Besides, what’s that saying, again? ‘Actions are louder than speaking’? Nevermind.._ I started to climb to my feet. The Night Fury didn’t move. _Well, here goes nothing. Sort of._

I silently walked over to him, trying to look as unthreatening as possible. He didn’t seem to notice me. Slowly, I sat down besides him and returned to my previous expression, cautiously watching him the entire time. The dragon still didn’t seem to notice me.

I huffed loudly. His ear twitched and he raised his head, twisting his neck around to stare at me. His brows lifted high above his eyes in surprise. I blinked at him.

“Hi, there!” I offered him a small grin and nodded once in greeting.

“…What are you doing?” The Night Fury looked at me as if I’d grown two heads. I shrugged unhelpfully, settling down into the comfortable grass below us.

“Well, it was kind of awkward…”

He gave a short laugh. “And this makes it better? Sorry, human, but I don’t cuddle. Now get out of my spot.”

I raised a brow, lifting my head to look fully at him. “Since when is this _your_ spo—ah!” I yelped when he nonchalantly brought his single-finned tail around and slapped me upside the head, stinging my cheek. “Ow!” I complained, holding a paw to my face and glaring at the Night Fury. “What was that for?” I whined somewhat angrily.

He regarded me with a serious look, but I could detect some amusement playing behind his eyes. “My spot. Out. _Now._ ”

(I noticed that his voice sounded more confused than anything else, and it was painfully obvious that his ‘anger’ was forced. Had his opinion on me somehow changed? What was he thinking about?)

I complied. There was _no way_ I was going to sit around and let myself get slapped. As I walked away, tail dragging on the ground, I made sure to mumble loudly, “Not your spot.”

“It is so!” The Night Fury called from behind me.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I plopped to the ground. I kept my ears tilted behind me towards him. Just in case.

I’m glad I did. If I hadn’t, I would have never heard him give a loud puff and stand up. Then I wouldn’t have turned around to see what he was doing. And if I hadn’t done that, then the resulting conversation would have never happened, and the chain of events that snowballed afterwards would have become nonexistent.

I leaped to my feet when I saw him turn towards the blown-up cliff. “Hey! Where are you going?”

He looked over his shoulder, but did not slow his pace. “I’m leaving.”

I blinked several times. “W-what?” He was leaving? He was just going to abandon me? A small part of me was hurt. I didn’t want to be left alone again, especially after I’d decided to try and put an end to our problems. I knew it was to be expected, though; I suddenly realized that I had nearly come to depend on the Night Fury, the thing that had ruined my life. And this particular Night Fury didn’t seem to care a bit about my well-being. (I believe the proper word for this would be ‘ _ouch_ ’.)

I didn’t bother to try to convince the dragon to stay. He seemed to have come to a solid decision, judging by his tone and body language. I lowered my head and hunched over, watching as my only chance to ever be normal again walked away mercilessly. _Don’t cry,_ I ordered myself, _it’ll only make things worse._

The emotional turmoil I was feeling before came down on me and struck like a deadly snake. It was sudden and unexpected. I closed my eyes and gasped. It had felt like someone had actually hit me in the chest. My legs began to shake. I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could.

 _This can’t be happening…_ I heard the dragon begin to jump onto the rocks. _I should stop him. I_ need _to stop him._

Yet I felt no strength to do so. _He hates you,_ my mind informed me, _and wants you to suffer and die. In that order. What would make him stay? You’re just another evil human to him. You’re his victim. He doesn’t feel any sympathy towards you._

 

I listened to him skid down the incredibly steep hill. He gasped, and I suddenly heard a loud ‘thump’. I snapped my eyes open and looked over at him. He was a few meters away from the cliff. The little bit of hope that had built up inside me died down when I realized that he’d just jumped to avoid falling off of it. The Night Fury tried again, heaving himself back up the rockface. The cliffside, now consisting of very small rocks compared to its previous state, did no good for the gigantic beast trying to climb it. It crumbled under his claws and he was forced to run away from a small landslide.

Like the stubborn thing he was, the dragon continued to try and climb the cliff as if nothing had happened.

I stood up, turned, and walked in the opposite direction, towards the tree-covered area of the gorge. I walked with my head lowered and my wings and tail dragging on the ground in defeat. _There’s no point in sitting there and watching him,_ I reasoned somewhat guiltily to myself. A small part of me was still screaming for me to try to reason with the Night Fury, to make him stay.

I lied down when I got underneath the miniature forest. The leaves were rustling gently above me, playing with each other in the wind. I closed my eyes and let the sounds carry me away.

* * *

 

The low sunset was quite the view. Or, it would have been, if I weren’t so distracted from it.

“Gods _damn_ it!”

The Night Fury let out a terrifying roar of outrage, shooting a blast of fire at the ground standing in front of him. He walked parallel to the cliff, holding his wings out and flapping them a little bit. Suddenly he leaped into the air, trying to climb up the cliff and fly at the same time. He fell to the ground.

“ _ARGH!_ ”

I cowered beneath the trees, hoping he wouldn’t notice me. Once again, it became very clear to me that I was trapped with my enemy. But this time, he was angry enough to start shooting off fireballs in random directions, though he was smart enough to aim them towards the ground. The dragon let loose a wild string of curses that would have made a sailor blush.

The Night Fury tried to climb the precipice again, _very_ desperate now.

He tried again.

And again.

And he attempted to pull the task several _more_ times, but ended up nowhere near success each time.

 _He’s not going anywhere_ , I thought somewhat smugly. _Oh, look! It’s karma! Nice to meet you, I’ve been fine, thanks…_

The Night Fury fell again. He got up and screamed at the obstacle as if it would just apologize and step aside. “ **Stupid! CLIFF!** ”

I snorted. There were a few things that I had grown accustomed to seeing in my recent past. A Night Fury screaming at a rockface was not one of them.

The Night Fury turned swiftly around to look at me, eyes aglow with something akin to evil.

I jumped, shrunk back, and averted my eyes sheepishly. Oops.

My light-hearted emotions quickly turned to dread when the dragon began to jog over towards me. _Oh, crap!_ I scrambled to my feet and searched desperately for cover. Nothing that would be useful showed itself to me.

I was in the beginnings of breaking out into a run when the Night Fury leaned down and leaped off the ground, using his wings to propel him at an incredibly fast speed. He landed right in front of me, making me skid and stumble backwards.

“Do you think this is _funny!?_ ” He hissed, cornering me against a tree. I leaned into it, trying to slip around the pesky plant-life to safety. “You think that this is a _joke_?!”

“Uh—uh--!” I was shocked. He looked just as angry as he had when he’d turned me into a dragon. It was…scary.

“Wrong answer.” He growled darkly. The Night Fury reached up and slapped me across the face with his paw (I was crouched low to the ground and he’d raised himself off the ground and onto his hind legs). While I was still on the ground, trying to recover from the shock, he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and flung me aside. “Don’t you dare laugh at me!” He screeched. The beast didn’t give me another chance to react, and threw himself at me, pinning me to the ground. “At least I’m _trying_ to get out of here, _human!_ ”

I gaped at him. “I-I-I—“ Swallowing, I demanded, “Get off me!” I brought my hind legs up and kicked him in the stomach. Using the few precious seconds I had, I rolled swiftly and tried to sprint out of the cage-like trees and out into the open area. I’d barely made it a foot when the Night Fury gripped my tail in his jaws and flung me back towards him. I felt his paws wrap around my neck and fling me to the ground. My head made contact first and caused stars to swim in my vision.

I felt more than saw the Night Fury begin to build up a blast of fire. I just froze in fear.

“S-stop!” I cried out desperately, suddenly finding my voice. I flipped over and backed up as quickly as I could, not daring to turn my back on the dragon. _He’s mad with anger!_ I realized when he showed no reaction but to turn his body towards me. _I need to break through to him, or he’ll kill me!_

“STOP!” I screamed. I lunged forward, spun my body sideways when I landed, and slapped him across the face with my tail. The Night Fury gave a high-pitched yelp of surprise. Slowly, he turned his head towards me, face wrinkled up in fury.

“Wait! Just think! Listen to me!” I spread my wings out in an attempt to look bigger. He paused. Feeling rage starting to build up inside me, I continued, “Quit taking your anger out on me! **_You_** of all people have _no right_! If anything, **I** should be the one attacking _you!_ ” I crouched low to the ground and swished my tail wildly, looking fiercely at him.

Suddenly, the Night Fury’s eyes dilated to the regular size. He rubbed his paw on his face, looking slightly surprised for a split second. Then, he gave me the evil eye. “Well, at least I’m not moping around, waiting for death! I have every right to be mad at you!”

I reared my head back as if he’d slapped me. _Waiting for death?_

I wasn’t doing that…was I? I mean, I was upset, but it’s not like I’d be _elated_ at all of the current events. But I wasn’t suicidal! I would…never…

I thought back to how I’d been acting. With a jolt, I realized that if I wasn’t fighting the Night Fury, I was usually wallowing in self-despair or sulking. And I couldn’t bring to mind one time where I wasn’t bitterly wishing that I could be a human again, or that I should have never shot the Night Fury down, or that that it should have killed me instead of changing me into a dragon.

I realize this is bad…but how am I supposed to feel?

 _It’s no excuse to be…suicidal,_ I grimaced at the last word. _Oh, gods! What’s happening to me?_

I faltered, the defiant words dying on my lips. I stared into the Night Fury’s eyes. He was definitely angry, but there was something else…frustration and worry was hiding just beneath the surface. Whether it was for just him or the both of us, I wasn’t sure.

_“I have every right to be mad at you!”_

His last sentence replayed in my head. I narrowed my eyes slightly and tipped my head to the side. “You’re mad at me for being upset?” I asked. “And for not doing anything? Why?”

My fellow cove-captive said nothing for a few moments. Finally, he answered, “Giving up doesn’t help either of us if we’re both stuck in this canyon.”

“How can I possibly help to get us out of here? It’s not like we can just blow up another side of one of the cliffs,” I pointed out.

The Night Fury lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Suddenly, he brightened, and looked over at me.

Oh. He thought that I’d been serious.

 _Maybe this is a good thing,_ I thought. _He thinks you’re suggesting getting out of here together. Maybe this can be the end of this long battle we’ve been having!_

A wide grin spread across the Night Fury’s face. “Maybe _I_ can’t get out of here…but _you_ can.”

I shook my head a little bit. “What? If you haven’t noticed, I’m in the same position as you.”

The Night Fury said nothing. Instead, he brought his tail forward. I tensed for a split second. Forcing myself to relax, I stared at it. It took me a few seconds to realize what he was trying to get across.

His tail only had one tailfin. Mine had both.

“No!” I immediately cried out. “I can’t fly!” I shuddered at the memory of the thunderstorm that had destroyed my will to even use my wings on my first night as a dragon.

“Why not?” He looked at my quizzically.

I shook my head again. “I just can’t.”

He paused, frowning, and then sighed and shook his head as if the solution to the problem was obvious. I barely detected _kindness_ in his voice. “I’ll teach you.”

I gasped. My ears stood straight up. “What?!”

He got up and walked towards me until we were almost touching nose-to-nose. “But, in return, you must come back. I’m assuming that you’d be hungry by now. Well, I am, too. If I teach you to fly, and you get food and come back, then, maybe…” The dragon gave me a mischievous grin that made me a little more than uneasy, “…maybe I can find a way to change you back to your human form.”

I jumped to my feet. “But you said that was impossible!”

“Right, now, yes,” The Night Fury sat down and leaned back casually. “But as the magic in your veins grows less concentrated and evens out, which means it’ll get weaker, by the way, it’ll be easier to extract it. I’d say it’d take about…oh, a month? Then it _would_ be…” The dragon suddenly stopped. He got that far-away look in his eyes for a split second, and then seemed to get angry at himself. The Night Fury looked down at his feet, took a deep breath, and then looked up at me with an expectant expression.

I gaped at him. Was he lying to me? I mean, this conversation just came out of the blue. And he’d made it blatantly clear why he’d even started it: he needed food. But, on the other hand, I was starving, too. I don’t care if dragons could survive days on end without food; with each passing hour, I could feel my body grow weaker due to lack of nourishment. But that was a minor problem compared to what he was proposing.

 _Are you really going to pass up an opportunity like this?_ My mind asked. _Earlier, you were devastated when the dragon tried to leave. Not only is he offering to stay now, but he’s also giving you a chance to go back to normal! How can you possibly let that go?_

I looked into the eyes of the beast, still unsure.

Summoning up my courage, I demanded in the most serious tone I could muster, “Look me in the eye and tell me that you’re not lying.”

He met my gaze evenly and straightened. “I swear on the Dragoness of the Moon and the Dragon of the Sun that every word I’ve spoken is truthful.”

For a few seconds, I felt something almost tangible go between us. In it, I felt a great sense of truthfulness that was surrounded by a sea of apprehension and…nervousness. I had only registered this when the brief connection shattered.

 _He’s not sure what to think,_ I finally figured out. _Right now is my chance to show him that I don’t want things to continue on like this. Right now, I can show him that I’m willing to trust him, if only he would do the same!_

 _Besides…I really_ can’t _pass this up. It’s my only hope._

With my eyes still fixed on him, I answered, “I…agree. We have a deal, Night Fury.” I spoke the last part softly and lowered my ears, feeling all my anger and pent-up agony from the entire day leave with something that I wanted to welcome, but was a bit unwilling to: hope. _Maybe…I can only hope for things to work out._ “I’m putting my trust in you…don’t break it.” I offered him a small grin. I felt my brows lower down in a slant, most likely making it look sad.

He hesitated; obviously, he wasn’t expecting me to answer like that. The dragon sniffed at me warily, never taking his eyes off of mine. Something I’d never seen before sparked beneath the green orbs.

To my great astonishment, the Night Fury closed his eyes, leaned his head down, and pressed his forehead against mine. My breath hitched in my throat and my body immediately tensed up, expecting an attack. But the dragon didn’t move otherwise. He stayed stock-still, his warm forehead barely pressing against mine. His scent became very strong: the smell of firewood being burned on a chilly autumn evening.

Was it…a gesture of peace? Being dragons, we couldn’t exactly shake hands. (Though it would be awesome if we figured out how.)

_Show him. If you refuse now, you will never get this chance again._

I lightly pushed my own forehead against his. _I’m putting my trust in you._

That weak bond from before presented itself again. I felt my uncertain, shy faith reaching out to him. The dragon’s own emotions slowly crept out towards me. Shocked, yet excited anxiety. He wasn’t exactly celebrating something…it was more like he’d been given a pleasant surprise. The two distinct emotions coming off of us clashed, and I felt a new one coming off of him: a faint fear, like a creeping suspicion that something was very, very wrong. I felt the dragon mentally brush it aside, and heard something I thought I’d never hear coming from him:

_“Damn this. I’m going to at least try.”_

Excitement and joy bubbled up in my chest. I tried to contain it from the dragon, but I felt him huff from the supposed amusement of it.

After a few more seconds of doing this, the Night Fury leaned back. He looked at me with half-lidded eyes, snorted, and silently dashed away from me. Halfway across the lake, he stopped and turned towards me. The bright green eyes glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky and back to me.

“Tomorrow,” he told me with a large amount of authority to his voice. I noticed a faint grin on his lips.

I nodded in agreement. “Tomorrow.”


	5. Chapter 5

When I woke up, three things came to my mind.

 

First: _My tail hurts._

Second: _I’m hungry._

Third: _Why in the gods’ names is that human sleeping next to me?!_

I blinked dazedly at him, wondering if I was still dreaming. But as my vision went from blurry to crystal-clear and the cold air woke me up further, I realized that the human really _was_ lying besides me. His tail was curled around himself and his wings were pressed in tightly. He was leaning heavily on me. I could feel him shaking.

 

_…How does he keep sneaking up on me like this?_ I thought in irritation.

 

I continued to stare at the human, but quickly grew bored. Out of lack of anything to do, I sniffed the air for anything suspicious. I could smell autumn’s slow descent into winter, the old scents of the humans from yesterday, and, of course, the metal-smelling human. I wrinkled my nose. When was the last time he bathed?! He smelled _awful._

 

_Humans_ , I thought with a roll of my eyes.

 

Almost as if in response, the Viking shifted and pushed himself even closer to me, resting his head on my forearm and letting out a small, contented purr. His tail flicked once and his eyelids moved slightly in deep sleep.

 

Yesterday, I would have reared back in repulsion and bitten him.

 

But this was today.

 

In those long hours of thoughtful silence yesterday, I looked over my actions and options very carefully. I forced myself to view the situation as an outsider; not a dragon, not a Shadow-Blender, not even a human. I put myself in a formless being’s place, a creature that simply evaluates what happens in the world and does nothing else. And what I saw had shocked me to my core.

 

I had thought that the Viking was sucking up to me in a feeble attempt to get on my good side and win my trust. But as I thought back on it, replaying the memories in my head the best I could (which wasn’t a lot, but enough), I quickly realized something I thought was impossible. The human was trying to make _friends_ with me, deliberately putting himself in danger to try and show me that he was serious.

 

I hadn’t even considered that back then.

 

And then, realizing that this would become something more if I stayed, I got scared. I decided to leave the cove and rid the human of my mind forever. I hadn’t wanted to make friends with the human at all. I wanted him to get out my life permanently. Lucky me, my plan to leave had failed miserably.

 

I’m not proud of the way I attacked the human in my mindless anger. It paid off, though.

 

I went into the conversation (the one that took place directly after the human literally slapped me out of my rage) cold-hearted and sneaky--like a dragon. I was planning on using the human to my advantage.

 

I hadn’t expected for him to look at me the way he did - to speak with his heart, to give me the complete and absolute truth, unlike myself. He made me look like a shadow in comparison to the light that he’d held. He had done something unheard of in my kind; he had opened up and poured out his soul to me in a single sentence, giving himself up to my mercy.

 

_“I’m putting my trust in you…don’t break it.”_

 

…How do you respond to that? Dragons are naturally distrustful creatures. Only mates rely on each other like that. But here this human was, putting everything on the line to show me that he wanted a change. And I had just tried to kill him. Again.

 

In that instant, I finally figured out what had had me so confused and upset and scared all morning yesterday. The fog my mind was in separated, showing me the answer. I realized that maybe, just maybe, _I_ wanted this as much as the human did. I realized that I didn’t _want_ to leave the human to die at all; that was why I hadn’t been able to kill him. I had, in a way, known this, and tried to deny it by being the biggest ass in the world.

 

I also realized how gods-damned prideful I had been, how I had walked through these past few days completely blind to the others around me.

 

Now, don’t take me wrong. I _was_ right on some things, like what would happen if I did change the Viking back and how _he did_ start all of this. And I still have the right to at least be annoyed at the human for crippling me. He _had_ taken away the thing I loved most. But I had done the same thing and _more_ to him.

 

So, I did the unspeakable. I had gathered up all of my hate and anger towards the human into a tight mental ball…and I’d banished it. I’d cleared my mind of the haze that had taken over me and had made physical contact with the Viking, calling a truce. And as long as that truce was still intact, I would not harm him. It was an unspoken dragon law.

 

The act of pressing foreheads is commonly called a ‘seal of trust’. It’s a deal, a final note. In a sense, it makes whatever the two dragons are agreeing to official. Legend says that any dragon who goes against a promise made with a seal of trust would be cursed for eternity for betraying the poor creature that had believed them.

 

It was a big deal when I’d done the seal of trust. I had said to the human, “I’m putting my trust in you, too”. Even if he didn’t know it.

 

And then that connection between the two of us, the strange _thing_ that linked our emotions, had come up. It was like an air current; you could feel it, but you couldn’t control it. You could choose to leave or stay on it. You couldn’t see it, but you always knew it was there.

 

All my doubts of the human, the fear of him tricking me the entire time… they had been washed away like a great wave. I had known right then and there that the Viking was not lying. Because the magic was obviously not of my doing, and the human seemed to have no idea how to control it, it was impossible to lie with the ‘bond’ taking place.

 

I’d like to say that I was angry at myself for trusting the human. But I just can’t bring myself to it. I know that if the other dragons found out about this, then I’d be exiled or killed. I don’t even want to think of how our ancestors would react to this.

 

All of that seems… unimportant, in a way. Something far away that I couldn’t even hope to reach. So why bother?

 

A bird chirped loudly above me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I pricked my ears and watched it as it flew away, turning my head to follow it.

 

The human shifted beneath me, giving a small moan. I snapped my head around…just in time to hit my head on his own as he awoke with a start and attempted to jump to his feet. The two of us yelped and held our dominant paws (mine being my right, his being his left) to the areas that we’d been hit. Opening one eye, I looked at the still-groaning human and gave him a glare.

 

“Good going,” I grumbled. I leaned forward and stretched my back and wings out, then pushed on my lower half to stretch my front legs. Feeling a little more refreshed, I stood up and shook my body to get rid of the grass that had stuck to me.

 

I looked over at the human. He immediately averted his gaze. He glanced up at me several times and looked away, suddenly fascinated by a rock lying on the ground. “Awkward!” The Viking mumbled to himself.

 

I raised a brow. The human-dragon clearly was not going to make the first move.

 

I gave an internal sigh. _Well, here we go. Time to jump into the ocean blind._ I thought. _Dragon of the Sun, if you’re watching, then make this work._

 

I spoke up in a calm voice, trying to gain the human’s attention without startling him. “Come on, we should get to work.”

 

The human snapped his head up and looked at me, standing up. “Really? Now? Uh, okay…”

 

I wrinkled my nose at his scent when it filled my nose, and my earlier thoughts on his metal-like smell returned to me. There was no way I was working with _that._ It smelled worse than carrion. “But first, you’re going to wash yourself,” I added as an afterthought.

 

“Huh?” His ears stood straight up. “I don’t smell bad!”

 

“Yes, you do, human. I can barely stand next to you!” I smirked when he glared and sniffed his chest.

 

The human turned his head away from me. “I don’t smell bad at all…uh…”

 

“What’s the matter, lost your adjective?” I asked with a grin, already lining up several sarcastic insults and passive-aggressive statements in my head. I blinked when the human shook his head and looked up at me seriously.

 

“No,” he answered. “It’s just that I don’t know your name.”

 

“Name?” I dumbly repeated. How absurd for a dragon to have a name! What’s the point when you can just tell who they are by scent and sight? Only the most important of things have names, like the Dragoness of the Moon and the Dragon of the Sun. Mere mortals have no need for a name, especially a rare Shadow-Blender such as myself.

 

“Yeah!” The human exclaimed, suddenly excited. His green eyes lit up like the stars and he padded towards me quickly. “So, what is it?”

 

“I don’t have one. What, are you saying that _you_ do?”

 

He gaped at me for several seconds. Pulling himself together, the human said, “I’m Hiccup. But what do you mean you don’t have a—“

 

He was cut off by my roaring laughter. I leaned back on my feet, entire body shaking, and fell to the ground. “ _That’s_ ,” I gasped, “your _name_?!” I continued to hoot for several minutes, limbs flailing in the air. I only rolled to my feet and stood up when I had finally calmed down.

 

“You done yet?” The human—no, _Hiccup_ asked my dryly.

 

“No!” I chuckled. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, now I am.” I grinned. “I can’t believe that you were named that! Why would you pick _that_ , of all things?” I giggled.

 

Hiccup sat down across from me and sighed as if he’d explained this a million times. “It’s supposed to ward off trolls and evil creatures.”

 

“Oh, no! It’s _Hiccup!_ ” I jumped to my feet and ran around the irritated Viking in mock fear. “Everybody run! His eyes alone can freeze you on the spot!” I burst out laughing again. You’d think that humans, being incredibly self-centered, would name themselves after a mighty god or force of nature. Not a _hiccup_ , of all things!

 

I was so distracted that it took me several seconds to process what the human told me next.

 

“Toothless. That’s your name.”

 

I stopped dead in my circling, eyes wide, ears sticking straight up, tail and wings frozen in spot.

 

Oh _hell_ no.

 

Hiccup gave me a kind grin, like one of a father to a naïve child. “Toothless…yeah, that’s a good name. I like it!” He congratulated himself.

 

“Are you out of your mind?!” I gasped. “I don’t need a name! Nor do I want one! Especially one like _that_!” I unsheathed my teeth and yelled, “And I’m not toothless!” I felt my cheeks warm up when I realized that, underneath the embarrassment of such an _awful_ name, I was _flattered._ But, in my defense, it’s not every day when a human gives you a name. Does that mean he wanted to be equals?

 

“You were just now!” Hiccup pointed out. Literally. He picked up his left leg and gestured it at me in an odd fashion.

 

“I don’t care!” I retorted. “So were you!”

 

“Yes, but I already have a name. You don’t. I’m not going to go around calling you ‘Night Fury’ or ‘dragon’ all day long. It’s a bit rude.” Hiccup smiled at me again.

 

“What? No, it isn’t! I’m perfectly fine with that!” I tried to reason, but it was no use. Hiccup’s grin widened, most likely deepening his will to use that stupid, idiotic, dumb, annoying, false, terrible, insolent name. He stood up and stretched, talking to me with that snarky smile I was growing to despise.

 

“Whatever, Toothless. I’m sticking to it. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it!” He said after taking in my expression. “Besides, it’s not that bad. I know someone named Gobber. And I know another person named Fishlegs.”

 

“But fish don’t have legs,” I said in disbelief, caught off-guard. “Why on earth would you name yourselves things like that?”

 

Hiccup frowned. “Well, there is this one girl I know…”

 

For a few seconds, I thought he’d drop right back into that depressed cloud that the human had been hovering in for the past few days. To my relief, he seemed to snap himself out of whatever emotion had come over him. “Her name’s Astrid. I think it’s a really pretty name. It suits her.” At this, Hiccup’s eyelids drooped slightly, and a goofy grin slid across his face.

 

Well, someone’s been love-struck.

 

I opened my mouth to say that exact sentence. And right before I did, a piece of my memory flared to life.

 

When I had thrown Hiccup into this cove, a human had followed us. A female human. And Hiccup had screamed that word, _‘Astrid’_ , to her. At the time, I’d thought that maybe it was some strange human term for ‘go away’. But now that I realized that it was a _name_ …

 

Was Astrid Hiccup’s mate? Sure, he’d been an outcast, but every female has her type. What if they had been secret lovers? What if they’d been arranging for hatchlings?

 

My heart skipped a beat. I’d been so close to killing her! I was pretty sure that humans, like dragons, have one mate for life and no one else. And he was so young! They both were! If I had succeeded in killing Astrid, would I have ruined Hiccup’s life forever?

 

“…of course, she hates me, so I’m not sure why she came here. It’s weird, because everyone else was here, too, which I don’t get. Maybe Fishlegs, but definitely not Snoutlout. Stubborn, hard-headed _jerk_ he is. Great cousin. I _always_ feel the love coming off of him.”

 

I snapped back into reality, my panic fleeing me like a fish from a strike. Relief washed over me seconds later.

 

_Oh, thank the gods,_ I thought. _That was almost bad. So it’s one-sided. Well, that’s not exactly great, either, but it’s better than those two being paired and me almost killing one of them. Damn, that was close!_

I frowned when I suddenly realized what I had been thinking. Since when did I care _that_ much about the human?

“Are you even listening to me?” Hiccup was suddenly right in my face. I yelped in surprise and jumped back, tensing on instinct. The human-turned-dragon couldn’t have looked more unimpressed. “I could have been telling you my life story, and you wouldn’t have even known.” He rolled his eyes. “I can feel the _love_ coming off of you, too, Toothless!”

 

“I’m not Toothless,” I rejected, “and I was just thinking.” I sat down and curled my tail neatly around my feet, mimicking Hiccup’s position.

 

“About what?” He asked, tipping his head to the side.

 

“Just…names.” I finished lamely. There was no way I was going to tell him that I’d thought that he was mates with the girl he’d just said hated him. That would make him mad…or he’d get even _more_ lovey-dovey with her. I really had no interest in human love affairs, or, on that note, _any_ love affairs, and I _definitely_ didn’t want to hear about the drama that came with them. There was enough of that going on here, in the cove.

 

Hiccup gave me a scrutinizing look. His sigh told me that he’d dropped the subject. “Uh, anyways, what were we talking about?”

 

I quickly went through our conversation. Back from the human names, the actual naming of myself (which I still refused to accept), Hiccup’s name, the name-calling, to…

 

“You smell bad.” I said bluntly. It was Hiccup’s turn to burst out laughing. I tried to keep a straight face, telling him that I was serious.

 

I was shocked to suddenly find myself joining the human in his amused peals. We were both lying flat on the ground, me on my back and Hiccup on his side, heads inches apart from each other. Even after I realized what I was doing, I couldn’t…stop…

 

I sucked in a deep breath and held it, trying to stop my now-gasping laughter. My entire body still shook with little fits, which I viciously fought down. After several seconds, I finally cleared my head enough to see that Hiccup was doing the same thing. He heaved and lightly batted my wing off of his chest (when did I do that?) and rolled onto his stomach. I turned around, also, and got to my feet.

 

“That was…” I trailed off, slightly alarmed. _Not normal_ would be a good end to that sentence.

 

“Hysteria?” Hiccup suggested. “These past few days haven’t been exactly relaxing. You can’t just bottle your stress up and expect for nothing to happen…” He dropped his head, allowing it to plop on his forelegs. “I blame you for that, by the way.” He looked up at me and grinned slightly.

 

I snorted. “Go clean yourself.”

 

“But I don’t smell bad!”

 

“Don’t make me do it myself. I’m not afraid to treat you like a hatchling.”

 

At this, Hiccup’s brows furrowed and he frowned. Raising his head and turning it, he asked, “What do you mean— _ooooh_...No! I’m good!” He grinned cheekily, as if he were trying to reason with someone who was about to attack him. When the human still didn’t make any movements to do _anything_ , I leaned swiftly towards him.

 

Hiccup jumped to his feet. “I’m up! I’m up! No need to do that! I’ll just…uh, I’ll go take a bath. Bye!” And then he tromped away, only looking back at me once.

 

I blinked. What was a bath? And why was he so repulsed by good hygiene? Personally, I enjoyed the feeling of cleanliness.

 

I simply put it off as a ‘strange human thing that I will never understand’ and watched as the brown Shadow-Blender made his way towards the lake. _What is he doing?_

The human nodded to himself, crouched, and jumped out towards the lake. His wings expanded for a split second and then shuddered. His tail bent the wrong way, and instead of going towards a small, secluded pool coming off of the lake, he spun midair and swerved to the side, landing in the deep end (not in the center of the lake; more off to the right.). _What is he doing?!_

 

My jaw all but dropped in shock and horror. Dragon or not, the lake was obviously cold. The shallower parts were frozen over, for the gods’ sake! Plus, neither Hiccup nor I knew if there were any undercurrents, and if there were, if they were strong enough to pull a dragon down. Only the strongest of our kind can survive in the water; our wings are hindersome beneath the waves, and they drag us down. Even I have trouble getting out of deep water—both literal and metaphorical.

 

So it wasn’t a big surprise when Hiccup didn’t resurface long after he should have.

 

I sprinted towards the lake, jumped a meter before the lakefront, and pushed off the edge. With a neat dive that sent several fish bolting, I crashed beneath the waves. The sudden onslaught of sheer cold and lack of oxygen almost made me lose my focus and rise to the surface. I gritted my teeth in an attempt to ignore it and started paddling towards the bottom of the lake, keeping my wings in and using my tail as a rudder. I prayed that there wasn’t any undercurrents; we’d both be done for, and our bodies would never be found.

 

A huge cloud of silt emerged in the dark water around me. I heard a muffled, slow-motion swooshing sound. I forced myself to pick up the pace. And as I did, I felt the one thing in the world that I didn’t need: a current. It had dragged Hiccup here, to the center of the lake, and he couldn’t break free of it. I flailed madly, forcing my body up and over it before I was sucked into it by greedy, invisible claws.

 

When I finally caught sight of Hiccup, my heart sank. He was struggling so hard, but it wasn’t enough. He was being dragged down. Looking at his body, I started to doubt myself. Hiccup _was_ small for a Shadow-Blender, but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to grab him and pull him out of an undercurrent strong enough to hold a _dragon_ down.

 

My mind flashed the alternative: leave him to die and save myself.

 

And then it went over the conversation we’d just had - Hiccup had given me a name. _Me._ A _name._ While unimportant to him, it was so much more to any dragon. I don’t know of any named dragon that isn’t the stuff of legends and dreams, whispered by mothers to hatchlings to inspire faith and courage. And these legends were only named because they were beloved dragons—beings that had done the best for dragonkind, saviors of the species and pure-hearted. Hiccup giving me a name meant that I was important to him—very important.

 

And if that were so, then he was very important to me, too.

 

The fact that we’d had a non-malicious conversation without any strings attached also fought against the alternative. We were making progress. We were…becoming friends.

 

_I have to try!_ I swam above the panicking human and treaded, waiting for the right moment to dip in and grab him. He stilled as my shadow came over him and looked up at me with desperate, terrified eyes. _Now!_

 

I arched my back and sheathed my teeth halfway, plunging my head into the current and grabbing the human by his scruff. His body impulsively went limp.

 

I opened my wings, and with a great effort, began using them to push against the water. I paddled furiously, pulling my head up, trying to stop myself from being entombed in the current. Hiccup suddenly seemed to snap out of his numbness and began to struggle, fighting the current with all of his might. The silt around us kicked up again, quickly shrouding everything around us and rendering me blind.

 

It was sudden. One moment, we were fighting for our lives. And then we were spiraling out of control, flipping underwater, disoriented, unable to tell which way was up or down or right or left, quickly loosing oxygen. I blinked rapidly and tried to stop the spinning and still my head, hoping at least to tell what direction I was facing.

 

As my velocity decreased, I finally caught a glimpse of weak autumn sunlight. I pushed as hard as I could towards it, using my front paws to propel me foraward, then my hind paws, and then pulling all of my legs in a streamline position against my body to gain more distance. I stopped halfway and looked down, suddenly realizing something. _Where’s Hiccup?_

 

My lungs felt like they were on fire, begging for oxygen. I knew that _I_ had been down for too long…The probability that Hiccup had passed out was very, very high.

 

Despite my pain, I ducked down again. I looked in every direction, begging the Dragon of the Sun to show me where my human companion was.

 

For once, my prayers were answered. I saw Hiccup, still trying to resurface, a few meters below me. His dull eyes were half-shut and his movements were weak. Without hesitation I swam behind him and grabbed the closest thing to me: his right shoulder. I turned and swam towards the sunlight, ignoring my aching muscles.

 

_Come on!_ I thought. _We’re almost there! You can see the sunlight!_

When we were four meters away from the surface, Hiccup’s movements came to a near-standstill.

 

When we were two meters away, his body relaxed in my grip and a stream of bubbles shot out of his mouth.

 

One meter away, my vision began to darken.

 

I broke the surface and gasped heavily for air, trying to get some in around the bundle of flesh in my mouth. I quickly let go and lunged for Hiccup’s scruff, pulling his head into the air. I shook it wildly. _Breathe!_ I ordered internally. _Don’t you_ dare _give up right now!_

Hiccup’s body shuddered. And then he began to wheeze, coughing up the water that had filled his lungs vomiting the water he’d swallowed in an attempt to avoid drowning. I paddled furiously, feeling my muscles beginning to give out on me. In my position, I couldn’t turn and check for land without dropping Hiccup into the water or falling underwater again.

 

Hiccup gasped above me, taking in deep, shaky breaths. His ears shot up and he kicked his feet wildly. I let go of him.

 

“Woah!” Hiccup sunk and then resurfaced several seconds later, barely keeping his head above water. I turned around onto my belly, spotted the fastest way to the lake’s edge, and gestured soundlessly for Hiccup to follow. We both began to swim over to the precious land. It took maybe a minute or two, but it felt like eternity had passed when I shakily climbed out of the water, stumbled several meters, and fell down on the squishy grass in exhaustion. The cold air bit my scales, but it was more of an inconvenience than anything else.

 

Hiccup landed besides me. He silently crawled towards me, belly and tail dragging on the ground, and pressed himself up against me. His body was shaking violently.

 

_He’s not completely dragon,_ I realized. _He’s not as durable. That’s why he’s shaking, and I’m not, and why he’s much more skinnier than he should be. And that’s why he’s brown in color. He still has some human characteristics…_

 

_He’s hypothermic._

Without saying a word, I extended a wing and placed it over the Viking’s small body. I brought my tail over and wrapped it around Hiccup in an attempt to keep all the warmth inside him and not out. I gave a tired sigh and rested my head on my forelegs, looking at him.

 

“Thanks,” he mumbled. The human’s eyes closed. He didn’t open them.

 

I shifted. At least we were both safe now. What an exciting morning.

 

I would have addressed the fact that Hiccup was suddenly much more important to me than I’d thought earlier. I would have thought of the significance of giving me a name—no matter how dumb it was. I would have gone over my thoughts during the lake incident and worried over what _could_ have happened, making me realize again how much I cared for him. I would have reflected on how I should be rejecting all of this and then reasoned with myself that we had a deal that, after recent events, wasn’t important to me at all. I would have decided to go all-in, doubt myself, and then stick with my original decision.

 

But I was just so tired.

* * *

Unlike earlier this morning, I didn’t wake with a start. I didn’t snap my eyes open, panic for a few seconds, and jump up and knock my head on Toothless’ chin. I very slowly returned to the world of the living, my mind gradually coming out of the haze that it was in.

 

At first, I thought it was night. It was dark. My sluggish brain took a few seconds to register that no, it was not night at all; I was under Toothless’ wing, and the gap between his shoulder and the ground showed that it was sunny outside.

 

I closed my eyes in contentment. It was really warm and calm and quiet. I wished that I could just go back to sleep.

 

Of course, my stomach chose that exact moment to growl. Loudly.

 

_Oh, come on!_ I groaned internally. Externally, I squeezed myself together more, hoping to somehow muffle the sound.

 

The wing above me twitched, and, to my disappointment, lifted. Toothless looked at me with sleepy eyes, as if he’d just woken up, too. I smiled tiredly. Every muscle I had ached.

 

Toothless lifted his head and stared up at the sun. Slowly, as if moving his neck hurt him, he looked down at me. “Are you injured anywhere?”

 

“Mm-uh,” I hummed, only lifting my eyes to look at him.

 

“Well, now you’re just being lazy.” He gave me a pointed look and I let out a short laugh. “Come on, let’s get up. Sore muscles don’t go away by sitting around and doing nothing.” He lifted himself off the ground, wincing slightly, and began to stretch.

 

Reluctantly, I got up. I grimaced at the dull pain. “Can’t we just sleep some more?”

 

“No. What we _can_ do is get to what we were supposed to, though.”

 

I gaped at him in disbelief. Toothless obviously was in pain, too. And he wanted me to _fly_?! Was he out of his mind?

 

He seemed to understand my line of thoughts. “You’re going to have to learn, anyways. Plus, you’re not going to be at full energy every time you have to take off. I’ve flown in worse conditions.” As he said this, the Night Fury began to turn around and pad off towards the rocky area of the cove. His pace started slower than usual, but he forced himself to walk at a steady trot.

 

“But I’m so tired!” I whined, chasing (slowly) after him. I let out an exaggerated moan at the pain. Trying to imitate Toothless’ deep voice, I said, _“Hey, Hiccup! I just saved you from drowning! You actually passed out! But now that you’re awake, I’m going to teach you how to fly, even though we both hurt all over!”_ I halted in my ranting when I tripped, hissing in pain. Far ahead of me, Toothless laughed. “Oh, shut up!”

 

Toothless stopped near an outcropping on the cliff, where there was a ledge sticking out of the side. It was low enough that both of us could jump on it, but high enough that it would be easy to get a view of the entire gorge.

 

When I finally managed to get where Toothless was at, I sat down and bent over slightly. “What, you expect me to jump off that?” I joked.

 

“Yes. As you clearly demonstrated earlier, you don’t seem to know how to control your tail or wings when you’re in the air. We’re going to work on that first.” Toothless told me, dead-serious. I groaned. That sounded like a _lot_ of work. Even though flying was exciting, I’d had enough of that for my day. I don’t see why we couldn’t just rest and wait until tomorrow.

 

To answer that, my stomach growled again. My cheeks grew warm in embarrassment. At least they couldn’t turn visibly red; I’d never hear the end of Toothless’s teasing – thank the gods for scales.

 

“Well, if we wait for tomorrow, we’ll both be hungrier.” Toothless chuckled, relaxing for the first time since we woke up. “Come on, Rumbles. Get up and onto the ledge.” The dragon then turned and jumped straight off the ground, flapping his gigantic wings once and landing on top of the ledge and out of sight. His head appeared over the edge. “Hurry up!”

 

I stood up, wincing at the pain that shot through my legs. _I guess I have no choice_ , I thought in irritation. _The more hungry I get, the weaker I’ll be. If I wait, I might never get the energy to do this at all. If that happens, we’ll both starve._ A picture of the two of us lying next to each other, so thin our ribs could be counted and our legs looked like mere sticks, flashed through my head. I shuddered. Now _that_ was a motivator.

 

I jumped up onto the side of the ledge and clambered my way up, kicking several stones behind me. I managed to get my chest above the edge of the ledge, but my hind legs had kicked a gap in the middle of it and were now stuck in it. I felt myself slipping.

 

Toothless casually leaned over and grabbed me by the back of my neck. He leaned all of his body weight to the side, holding his tail in the opposite direction for balance. I managed to scramble over the edge, and the dragon let go of me.

 

Toothless looked at my seriously, fixing me with his lime-green eyes. “You need to learn how to use your body less like a human, and more like a dragon. You’re still thinking, ‘this is taller than me, so I can’t jump on it’. If you keep believing that your strengths are constricted in the way a _human_ body is, you’ll never fly.”

 

“How do you expect me to do that?” I asked, my tone annoyed. “I haven’t been a dragon for very long. There isn’t just a switch I can press.”

 

“Well, I’m going to cut out the cheesy ‘believe in yourself’ speech and just give it to you straight: trust your body and ignore your instincts. It seems you still have some of those annoying human ones.” He grinned. I didn’t.

 

“Annoying?” I stood up. “How are they _annoying_?”

 

“Well, I noticed that when you glided over the lake,” he nodded his head towards said body of water, “you seemed to panic once you were midair. You’re still stuck in the ‘I’m going to fall’ mindset. You need to get out of it, which brings me to the lesson!” He interrupted my (angry) response loudly at the end of his sentence, clearly getting tired of the argument. I gave him a weak glare, but didn’t say anything else. Even though I wanted to. Toothless really had no right saying that human instincts were annoying; if they really were, then we wouldn’t be alive. Then again, he isn’t the most modest dragon in the bunch.

 

“We’ll do hatchling-steps for now, since this is new to you,” Toothless started. “You’re just going to glide across the length of this cove right now. You need to get used to stabilizing your wings and tail.” He turned away from the lake and faced the destroyed wall of the cove. “To do that, you just need to tense them up, and, like I said before, trust your body. There’s several different angles you can do to do different things, which you will learn, but right now, we’re sticking to the basics. All you need to do is focus on keeping your wings straight and open, and your tail straight out behind you and _flat._ I’m going to repeat that: _flat._ The slightest tilt will send you crashing.”

 

I struggled to remember everything he’d just said. That was a _lot_ of information. But I’d never known any of that…maybe that was the reason I’d always crashed when I tried to use my wings. I nodded to Toothless, albeit uncertainly.

 

“Alright. I’ll do it first. What I want you to take note of is how I launch,” Toothless instructed. “Watch me.”

 

He leaned down into a crouch, his right paw in front of the other. He was leaning forward on his front half, making his hind legs stand taller. His wings were half-stretched out (or else his right wing would smack me in the face) and his three tail fins were spread out to their full extent. I looked guiltily at his missing tailfin on his tailtip, but he snapped me out of it with _more_ instructions.

 

“This is important. If you don’t lean like this, your hind legs won’t be able to push off the ground as powerfully, and you’ll have a very hard time getting into the air. Your hind legs are the strongest part of your body, _then_ your shoulder muscles. They are used to push off the ground when walking, running, pouncing, and leaping. Remember that.” He suddenly tilted the two tailfins at the start of his tail. “These are one of the two pairs of tailfins we, as Shadow-Blenders, have. There the base-fins—“ he wiggled the pair of tailfins directly behind his wings—“and the tailtip-fins.” The Night Fury then fanned his single tailtip-fin at me. “The base-fins work as extra tailtip-fins. They’re used the most in landing, speeding up, slowing down, and taking off, but otherwise, keep them straight with your wings. If you’re tilting your left wing, tilt your left base-fin. Don’t try to flap them, because you’ll look ridiculous and strain them.” He looked at me, taking in my expression. “Are you getting any of this?”

 

I nodded. “Yes!” I paused, and grinned sheepishly. “It’s just so much information, though. Do you have to tell me the extras? I’m sure I’m gonna forget some of this…”

 

Toothless shook his head in an exasperated way. “Yes, I do. You need to know what they do, so you can _use_ that information to fly in different ways without me telling you how. It’s kind-of like how my ancestors learned magic.” He snorted. “Plus, even I know that you’d end up asking _‘what’s that do?’_ or _‘why?’_ eventually.”

 

I looked down at my paws. He was right.

 

“Anyways, we’re almost done. All I need to tell you about are the tailtip-fins.” He wiggled his tail for emphasis. “ _These_ are the most important part of your body after the wings. They control what direction you turn in and keep you balanced. Because mine has gone, my tail is unbalanced, and my left base-fin isn’t enough. I can’t turn because the air under my body is unbalanced, and it sends me either crashing or spiraling out. I _can_ glide for a distance, though, because it only requires for you to keep your body straight.”

 

I grimaced. “I am sorry about that.”

 

Toothless stopped. He lifted his head, relaxing out of his crouch, and stared into my eyes. After a few tense, awkward (at least for me) moments, he smiled, though it was strained. “It’s alright.”

 

My eyes widened.

 

I sensed that strange connection come between us again. I felt the truth in his statement. I could sense uneasiness behind the words, though, as if he was unsure if it was too soon. But before I could even try to find the rest of his emotions, Toothless turned his gaze away and broke the bond. I felt myself grinning nonetheless; he really, _truly_ was on his way to forgiving me.

 

“Okay,” Toothless said, turning his head around and crouching again. “Now watch me.”

 

The Night Fury leaned back on his haunches and wiggled them. Then, he leaped into the air, keeping his front legs in and stretching out his wings. His wings quickly beat the air three times, and then Toothless leaned down, leveling his body out. His wings were perfectly straight, the tips barely moving. All three of his tailfins were parallel to the ground and looked almost flattened.

 

Toothless moved surprisingly fast. He’d only been about five seconds into his flight before he suddenly reared up, spread his base-fins up and backwards, and flapped several times. He landed neatly next to the remains of the landslide, folded his wings, and turned around to look at me.

 

“Now you try!” He called out, his voice echoing across the canyon walls.

 

I tensed. My heart drummed loudly in my chest. This was it.

 

“Okay, I can do this…I can do this,” I murmured to myself, leaning down as far as I could on my front legs and stepping close to the edge. “I just have to—“

 

“Don’t lean _that_ much! You’ll never take off!” Toothless shouted. I let up, lifting my chest several inches higher. “Good! Now take your dominant paw and put it in front of you! You’ll use that to start your launch!” I placed my left paw in front of me and felt my claws dig into the rocky ledge beneath me. I took a deep breath and spread my wings out.

 

“Stop!” Toothless cried. I halted. “Weren’t you listening to me at all?! You’re forgetting your tailfins!” His tone had an underlying message of ‘you’re an idiot’. I grinned in embarrassment, shut my eyes, and concentrated on my four fins. I moved each one individually before spreading it out. Then, I worked on moving two in the same manner at the same time, and, finally, four. I gave a lot of attention to keeping the individual fins straight.

 

After a few minutes of making sure I knew how to move my tailfins, I opened my eyes. Toothless was pacing rather impatiently.

 

“Okay…crouch, lean, paw…” I checked my position, smiling slightly when it seemed to be right. “Tailfins…” Again, I opened and closed them to test them before straightening all four of them out and parallel to the ground. “Hind legs…” I tensed the muscles in my back feet and shoulders and spread my wings. I held my position for a second, trying to take it all in. If Toothless wasn’t correcting me, then I _had_ to have it right.

 

I leaned back, pushed with my left paw, and then used the bundled-up energy in my hind legs to push me into the air. Instantly, I was overcome with pain. I gasped and grit my teeth, pushing past the unpleasant feling to try and straighten out my fins. Elation hit me when I realized I was midair, and I grinned widely, opening my mouth to call out to Toothless—

 

_THUMP!_

 

I screeched in surprise and pain when I fell to the ground less than halfway there and rolled. Groaning, I sat up, letting my wings simply spread out across the ground. I couldn’t help the disappointed frown as Toothless bounded over to me.

 

“I don’t understand. I did everything you did!” I told him in frustration. I glared at my feet. That split second before I’d crashed…it was like _nothing_ I had felt before. I had felt so light and careless. I’d felt so _free._ It was as if I could do anything in the world. Nothing could have stopped me, nothing could have kept me trapped or confined. I was able to do whatever I wanted, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

 

Obviously, gravity wanted to teach me a lesson.

 

“Almost. You were distracted by your pain and forgot to lean forward, so you got unbalanced and fell.” Toothless leaned down and nudged my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “Quit moping! Did you really expect to get it right on the first try?” He tipped his head to the side slightly and gave me a small grin. “Though, I am impressed by your lack of mistakes. Maybe you do have some hope after all…Hiccup.”

 

I grinned at the encouragement. Pulling myself together, I fought off my aching muscles and stood up. “Thanks, Toothless.”

 

He nodded absentmindedly, then snapped back to attention. “Thank me later! Do you think that saying that will magically give you the ability to fly? Back to the ledge and try again.”

 

 

And that was the drill for the next two hours. Shake the pain off, go to the ledge, and take off. It doesn’t matter if you fail or do it right, you’re going again, and _that’s that._ Apparently, Toothless is a very strict teacher that focuses more on learning how things work and using it to your advantage; no muscle-memory. I’m _so_ glad he doesn’t teach a class. (If he does, I pity the poor little things.) No matter what I did or what I was feeling, it was ‘go again, go again, go again’. Sometimes, I’d be given breaks, but that was only when Toothless seemed lost in thought…

 

My fails greatly outnumbered my successes. While I did make it over to Toothless’ spot near the landslide a couple of times, I would always forget something. Some of them were very basic, like my paw positioning before takeoff. Others were complex; at one point, my left base-fin and tailtip-fin weren’t aligned properly, and I spiraled midair and crashed into the cliff wall. Toothless had allowed me a break after that; probably because I was screaming how I’d broken my shoulder and was in near-tears. (I’m not weak! It had been _agonizing!_ )

 

But no matter what, he’d urge me to go on, to keep moving, to ignore the pain. Sometimes, he’d offer encouragement. Others, he would outright call me an idiot. (Though, he can sort of justify it; some examples of him doing that are when I forgot to unfold my wings all the way or when I tilted my body in the wrong direction and flew into the cliffside. The rest of the mistakes that weren’t my fault were probably because he wanted to make fun of me.) But the whole time, even though he was very impatient, he kept a very calm air about him, and his eyes always shone with understanding at my pains. This strange, kind behavior from him confused me more than any of his teachings.

 

So, when I’d finally managed to get the entire thing right after a long string of painful failures, my mind was elsewhere.

 

 “Good job!” Toothless congratulated me, a broad smile fleshed across his muzzle, but it soon faded at my failure to move. “Chop, chop! I’m not getting any younger; let’s see if you can keep that up…” He sat up, pushing his belly and forelegs off the ground to be at my eye-level.

 

“Okay,” I replied, completely out of breath. “But first, Toothless, I need to ask you something. Just, please…don’t get mad.” I lowered my ears and ducked my head slightly.

 

Toothless’ smile vanished. “What is it?” He asked warily, shifting his weight from side to side.

 

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I blurted. At his shocked expression I rushed to explain myself, “I mean, it’s not like I don’t like it or anything. I-it’s just _different_ , because yesterday you were trying to kill me, and now you’re teaching me how to fly with no strings attached.”

 

He spoke up quickly. “Well, you do have to bring food back.”

 

“I would have anyways,” I said softly.

 

Toothless’ cautious expression melted. After a moment of silence, he said, “Let’s just say that the incident in the lake this morning made me reconsider a few things. I woke up long before you did and had time to think.”

 

I hadn’t realized that he’d fallen asleep in the first place. I pushed that aside, though. “Can’t you just tell me?” I pleaded. My brows tilted down. “Please.”

 

Toothless opened his mouth—and stopped. He studied me carefully. Then he dropped his eyes from mine and stared towards the lake, eyes distant. “There’s nothing to tell.”

 

“But there is,” I pressed. “And I think I should know. It’s about _me_.”

 

“It’s unimportant,” Toothless calmly said. “What matters is right now.”

 

My tail slashed across the ground. “But I want to know!” Toothless met my glare evenly, and I continued, “You can’t just make such a big change and _not_ tell me about it!”

 

“What if I don’t want to?” Toothless snapped, getting to his feet. He trekked towards me menacingly, but I refused to budge. “Do I have to tell you my _every_ decision? Do I need to explain why I want to sleep in one spot over another? Why do I have to justify _everything_ I do?! I certainly don’t question _you_ about _your_ actions!”

 

“But this one involves me, so you _should_ tell me!”

 

Toothless’ lime-green eyes narrowed. “I’ve never asked you about _your_ decisions in the past, and _all_ of them involved me! Why can’t you just accept that things have changed and move on? Let it go!”

 

“Why are you so secretive?!” I cried. “We’re practically _living together!_ Wouldn’t you be curious, too, if I suddenly changed how I acted around you?” I felt my face wrinkle up in anger and clawed at the ground. Sometime during our conversation, my teeth had unsheathed fully. I quickly drew them back halfway, not quite sure if fully sheathing them would be the safest idea.

 

Toothless scoffed and threw his head back. “Hypocrite! You think you haven’t changed?” He began to pace around me in a short circle, his wingtips nearly touching mine when he came close. “You tried to attack me several times, too! And I believe it was _you_ who got me trapped down here in the first place! But yesterday, you called a truce! For the sake of the Dragon of the Sun, you even _named_ me!” He cried.

 

“Is that why you’re so snappy? The name? Because if you really hate it _that much—_ ”

 

Toothless shook his head. “It’s not about the name! It’s about you minding your own business!”

 

“But it has to do with me, and it’s confusing me! I want to know!” I yelled. I flinched slightly at the volume of my voice. I hadn’t meant to be _that_ loud.

 

Toothless stopped in front of me. “Well, sometimes you just don’t get to!”

 

I gaped. Out of nowhere, a tidal wave of anger flooded my entire body. “Really?  That’s why you’re keeping this from me? So you can hold on to some illusion of power—“

 

Toothless tried to interrupt me. “—What? No—“

 

I didn’t let him. “—so you can still feel like you can control me—“

 

“I never—“

 

“—so you can find a way out of this gods-damned hole—“

 

Toothless’ eyes widened. “ _Hiccup!_ Sto--”

 

“—so you can _use_ me—“

 

Toothless suddenly rushed forward, turning and slamming me with his shoulder, stopping me mid-rant. I stumbled, and he reared up on his hind legs and slapped me across face with his right paw, sending me tumbling to the ground. Sprawled across the dirt, I stared up at him wide-eyes, breathing in short, heavy gasps.

 

My heart panged when I realized what I’d done. _I didn’t mean all that,_ I thought, _so why did I say it?!_ Anger boiled up within me again, but not at Toothless.

 

“It’s because I _care!_ ” Toothless roared, landing on all fours and jumping back to avoid a possible rebound attack. “Is that such a crime?!”

 

My mouth moved up and down, but no words came out. The anger vanished instantly, quickly replaced with shock and fear of our fragile relationship being broken.

 

“So, this whole time, you thought that I was _using_ you?” Toothless growled, standing straight and narrowing his eyes into slits. “Have you been using _me?_ Were you planning on leaving forever once we were done with your training?” His voice shook, and hurt flared up beneath his eyes.

 

I shook my head wildly. “N-n-no! Of course not! I just…I don’t know why I even said that!” My voice took on a pleading edge. “I really didn’t mean any of that, I swear! I wasn’t thinking!”

 

“Obviously,” Toothless looked away from me. “Or you wouldn’t have told me how you _really_ feel.”

 

“Toothless,” I whispered. His right ear, the one closest to me, twitched, but remained flat. “I’m so sorry. I _truly_ did not mean that. I swear to _all_ the gods.” I finally got to my feet and walked towards the unresponsive Night Fury, keeping my head and tail low. “I care about you, too.”

 

The dragon turned and glared at me. “How do I know you’re not lying to me?”

 

I flinched at the venom dripping from his words. “Because…” I scrambled for something that sounded reasonable, something that would help. “I was just overcome with anger,” I finally sighed, hanging my head. “I was mad because you wouldn’t tell me.”

 

“Obviously,” Toothless grunted. “Why must you want to know _everything_?”

 

“I just like to. It helps me understand things I don’t get,” I mumbled. To any passerby, it would have looked like I was talking to the ground. “And whenever I’m part of something, I want to know why. Before, I never really had a friend. Everyone thought of me as pathetic and wasn’t afraid to say so. For some reason, that made them think that they could make all of my decisions _for_ me. The problem is that all of them were made specifically to get me out of the way…” I shifted my weight back and forth slightly in nervousness, waiting for a reaction. When none came, I continued, ”I don’t like it when people talk about me behind my back or make decisions related to me without telling me.”

 

“Why not?” Toothless asked, his voice cautious. “As long as it doesn’t hurt you, it shouldn’t matter.”

 

I finally raised my head and met Toothless’ gaze. He didn’t look angry anymore. He looked hurt and confused. Most of all, he looked wary. “My father went behind my back and told one of our blacksmiths, Gobber, that I was to be his apprentice,” I confessed, “and he didn’t tell me about it until my starting day. He didn’t even give me a choice. I like Gobber and all, but _still_ , it hurt.”

 

Toothless paused, and then said in disbelief, “So, you’re mad at me because I hit one of your issues, and then refused to solve it?”

 

“It’s not an issue!” I said indignantly. “But, yes, that’s the basic part of it.”

 

The Night Fury didn’t say anything. He leaned away from me and began to stare at the lake, as if the answer would come up and fly out of it.

 

“Toothless,” I said, trying to sound as confident as I could, “I wasn’t lying when I said I cared.”

 

“I know,” he said quietly. So quiet, I could barely hear him.

 

I sighed in relief. “I really _am_ sorry. I didn’t mean a word of it.” I paused when Toothless only nodded. “This is where you say you’re sorry for keeping secrets.” I nudged him with a paw, grinning to show him that I was joking.

 

Toothless gave a nervous laugh; the kind you give to someone when you know they’re about to beat you senseless, but they’re being nice before they do it. But then he shook his head, and raised his voice in a careful, uncertain tone. “Hiccup?”

 

I blinked, confused. “Yes?”

 

He stared at his feet and shifted his weight. “If you could be a human again, right now…would you? Would you leave all of this?”

 

I froze.

 

Would I?

 

Of course I wanted to be a human again. It was my true nature, the thing I had been all of my life until just recently.

 

But Toothless...

 

He was just as important to me as I was to him. We were two pieces of a gigantic puzzle, and each of us was made of smaller pieces. When we tried, we worked together effortlessly, as if we were always meant to be together.

 

When Toothless tried to leave, I was broken. I had no doubt in my mind that he’d feel the same way if I abandoned him. Even if he had problems showing his emotions to others, he’s just _told_ me that he cared about me. And I had done the same, and I had meant it.

 

Still…I did want to be a human…but at the same time, I wanted to be with Toothless. I’d never felt this way around anyone else. I’d never felt _open_. I felt like I could be myself and not have to worry about the consequences. I didn’t want to give that up. I didn’t want to give up the only person who’d even _tried_ to understand me.

 

I didn’t want to hurt Toothless, not after I’d just come within inches of breaking apart our relationship forever. But I didn’t want to lie.

 

Unfortunately, in this case, there is more than black and white. I was stuck smack-dab in the middle of the grey. Black? White? I couldn’t decide. Especially such an important question as this, sprung out of nowhere.

 

“Toothless, I…” I took a deep breath. Toothless winced, and looked away, shoulders hunching and wings drooping. I grimaced, as if trying to prepare him for what I was about to say. “I don’t know.”

 

Toothless looked up at me, hurt clear in his eyes. “You don’t know?” He repeated bitterly.

 

“No,” I gently replied, “because I want to stay with you and fix all of this. But I miss my family. I just…I don’t know.”

 

“Your family? That’s what’s holding you back?” Toothless looked into my eyes. I quickly saw the disbelief behind them. “From what I’ve got, they’re unappreciative towards you and shun you for being different.”

 

“…Yes,” I sighed. “But don’t you miss yours?”

 

Toothless’ ears twitched. “I got better.”

 

We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Toothless ducked his head, hiding his eyes from me.

 

I felt so angry at myself. I _should_ know the answer. But I couldn’t decide! And now, because of my uncertainty, I’d just severely hurt Toothless. Again. As in, for the second time in the _same_ conversation. It looks like I win this year’s ‘Soulless-Jerk-of-the-Year Award’.

 

_I have to make this right,_ I thought. _He’s never going to want to be near me again if I don’t._

I got up and stepped towards the Night Fury. He refused to look at me.

 

With a deep breath, and leaned down and pressed my head against his, rubbing my cheek on his face. “I’m sorry, I really am,” I told him. “I honestly don’t know. I can’t…I don’t know how to answer that, not this suddenly.”

 

For a moment, I was afraid that he would ignore me. Then, he pressed his head against mine. “I understand,” he murmured. “I shouldn’t have asked.” The dragon leaned down and pressed his forehead on my neck, and the base of his neck on my chin. Then he leaned back, out of my reach.

 

“Toothless…” I started, but he shook his head.

 

“It doesn’t matter. I couldn’t have expected an answer,” Toothless sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. He lifted his head and opened them, offering me a small and obviously forced grin. “Let’s just get back to training, okay?”

 

“You want to ignore this?” I asked softly.

 

“...No,” the dragon responded in a tone equal to mine. “I just want to address the things we’ve established, and ignore the rest. They’re irrelevant.”

 

“Those things being…?” I asked warily.

 

Toothless gave me a real smile this time. “That we care about each other, and…” He sighed again, and continued in a slightly exasperated, half-joking tone, “we have to work a lot harder at this if we want it to work out.”

 

I said the first thing that came to mind, unable to withstand the tension of the situation any longer. “That was a terrible attempt at a hint.”

 

Toothless laughed. “Alright,” he chuckled, “now let’s get back to work.”

* * *

About an hour and a half had passed since Hiccup and mine’s argument.

 

While I had been very upset at first, I got over it. Hiccup _had_ apologized, and I’d long-since learned from recent events that holding a grudge did nothing but make everything worse for you. If we wanted this friendship to work, then we’d have to make amends. For me, that would be letting things go.

 

Still, I was troubled by our conversation. Would Hiccup leave me if given the choice? His ‘I don’t know’ answer had been infuriating…but truthful. And while I was still a little angry about that part of the conversation, I knew that it was only to be expected. I had gone out of line, asking a serious question like that, so little into our relationship. It was like requesting to be mating partners with a dragon you’d just met: rude, disrespectful, awkward, and, most of all, only ending with someone getting hurt.

 

I was still a little surprised at myself for outright telling Hiccup how I felt. It was a spur-of-the-moment, reckless sort of thing, something I hadn’t planned on doing. I’d been consumed by rage and a strange desperation to prove myself right to Hiccup.

 

I guess I really can’t deny his importance to me, huh?

 

But Hiccup had desperately tried to prove himself to me, too. That meant that he cared about me just as much as I did to him. That alone made me calm down and even try to trust him, even after he’d said that maddening ‘I don’t know’ answer. Hiccup cared about me, and I cared about him. I didn’t want to turn our relationship back into the two of us out to kill each other. So, I forgave him, and pushed all my doubts to the side.

 

We had work to do, after all. Flying is hard to get down. I was surprised at Hiccup’s progression in it, but something in the back of my head told me that something was off. Hiccup didn’t seem like…himself. He was the same sarcastic, oversensitive, chatty fishbone that I’d met on our first couple days together. Still, there was a part of him that seemed to be dying off, like a brave little flame clutching to its ember. I couldn’t place it.

I pushed the unsettling thoughts away and focused back onto the lesson.

“Okay, Freckles, now that you’ve got the gliding part down, we’re going to take the next hatchling-step,” I told Hiccup after he’d done his thirteenth successful landing in a row in front of me. He groaned and flopped to the ground, breathing heavily.

 

“ _Why?_ ” He whined. “We’ve already done so much work! Can’t we wait until tomorrow?”

 

My ears pricked involuntarily when the lazy human’s stomach suddenly roared, demanding food. I smirked. He cringed in embarrassment.

 

“Your stomach says no, Rumbles. Besides, we haven’t done _that_ much! And,” I paused and looked up at the sun, judging the time by its position, “we still have several hours of daylight left. That’s plenty of time to get this part down, _at least_. We’ve passed the hardest part already!” I grinned overenthusiastically, enjoying every second of Hiccup’s dismay.

 

“ _Ugh!_ ” He exclaimed, shakily pulling himself to his feet. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

 

I raised a brow. “I’m not making you do anything.” I felt my smile widen. “Your stomach is.”

 

Hiccup mumbled something along the lines of ‘stupid, arrogant dragon’, and began to turn around to head towards the takeoff-ledge. I quickly darted ahead of him, taking the lead to our designated teaching spot. I stopped, waited, and remained on the ground while Hiccup finally scrambled up the ledge.

 

He tipped his head to the side and leaned slightly over the edge. “Why are you down there?” Hiccup asked.

 

I frowned. I couldn’t show him what it was like to turn because, obviously, I couldn’t. I’d be knocked off-balance and fall.

 

A sudden torrent of regret and sadness hit me hard. Ever since Hiccup had shot me down, I’d purposely ignored the loss of my flight. I’d even tried to kid myself into thinking I could use my magic to heal it, but more than one dragon is always needed when fixing wounds such as amputations. And now, it was all coming towards me at once, completely unexpected. The only reason this hadn’t happened before was because I _could_ still glide, even if it was only in a perfectly straight line.

 

I missed flying. A lot. I missed the feelings of the wind rushing past you and how small and insignificant everything looked from above. I missed the freedom and the power that came with it, the ability to do whatever you wanted.

 

“Toothless?”

 

“Huh?” I snapped my head up, looking at Hiccup’s quizzical expression.

 

“…is something wrong?” He worried, leaning over and beginning to jump off the ledge.

 

“No!” I said quickly, stopping him. Hiccup scrambled back just in time before he fell face-first to the ground. “I was just thinking, is all. And…on second thought, you should come down here so I can show you what to do.”

 

Hiccup shrugged and jumped off the ledge, using his wings to cushion the once-dangerous fall into a soft landing. I started to back away from him, causing him to shoot me a confused and slightly-wounded look. I laughed to try and trick him into thinking that I _was_ just fine.

 

“I need to have room to show you what to do. I can’t turn, remember?” I explained. My somewhat-genuine smile vanished, and I tried to force a fake one.

 

To distract the Viking, I spread my wings and tailfins out to their fullest. Hiccup’s mouth opened slightly and he let out an almost-silent ‘ooooh’, finally realizing what I was intending on doing. My tail panged slightly, reminding me once again on how I would never fly again. I shook off the treacherous thoughts as quickly as I could and focused on telling Hiccup what to do.

 

It wasn’t hard, since he already looked like his was dreading the lesson. Honestly, that human could be so _lazy._ So his muscles were _a little_ sore!

 

“Alright, Browny! Guess what you get to learn what to do now?!” I shouted in an overexcited, cheery voice. I made sure to stretch my smile as far as it could go.

 

Hiccup groaned. “Getting higher?” He said dryly.

 

“Close, but no. Actually, not close at all. We’re going to focus on turning.” Hiccup nodded warily, having already seen what would happen if he tried to turn and do it wrong. I’d attempted to change my direction in flight several times while I was trying to escape the cove, failing miserably each time.

 

I twisted my body down to the side so all of my weight was situated on my right legs. I moved my wings, tail, and tailfins along with it, ignoring when one wing hit the ground. “You’ve already got the basics of keeping your tailfins straight and aligned with your wings. Now, you’re going to use that knowledge to teach _yourself_ how to turn mid-flight.” I grinned at the human’s shocked expression. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you the basics. But then, you’re on your own. Glad you listened to me earlier?”

 

Hiccup nodded, but then shook his head. “I don’t know…what if I fall in the lake again?” He pawed at the ground nervously, tail flicking.

 

I snorted. “You won’t. And if you do, you’ll only land in the shallow parts and get covered in ice and water. The deep part’s on the opposite end, see?” I nodded towards the lake and continued without pausing, “Now listen carefully. I won’t repeat myself.”

 

All traces of doubt gone, Hiccup nodded determinedly. “Okay.” He trained his pine-green eyes on me, the same color as the trees around us, and stopped moving altogether.

 

I tilted my wings and body in the opposite direction. Out of habit alone, my base-fins and tailtip-fin made the proper adjustments. “Like I said earlier, you always keep your base-fins aligned with your wings. They help you catch more air beneath your body and let you fly faster. It’s the best feeling in the world to ride on top of a warm air current and not have to do anything…” I trailed off into thought for a second. Realizing what I was doing, I snapped myself out of it.

 

I continued on as if nothing happened, “The trick to this is your tailtip-fins. While you keep your base-fins the same as your wings, your tailtip-fins work individually. You’ve noticed by now that they are much more flexible than your base-fins, right?” Hiccup nodded. “Good. You see, with turning, there’s a _lot_ of things you can do. Sometimes, your tailtip-fins will be straight with your wings, but other times, you’ll have to angle one straight towards the ground and the other flat. But that’s only in extremes, like when you’re falling or making a very sharp turn. The basic form you use for flying is this.”

 

I held my tailtip-fin out at an angle above the ground. All of the spikes pointed at the sky and would have been opposite to my other tailtip-fin—had it been there. In the past, both the fins would have formed a shape that started wide, went down on two slanted lines, and tapered to a single point that looked similar to an upside-down mountain. I looked up at Hiccup, who, thank the gods, managed to figure that part out all on his own and was currently mimicking my solitary tailfin.

 

“Why not just use the same position as I do when I’m gliding?” Hiccup spoke up, very confused.

 

I grinned. I was hoping that he’d ask that. “Gliding and flying are two completely different things,” I explained. “Gliding focuses on catching air underneath your body and moving a short distance. Flying focuses on moving the air around you and covering longer, wider distances. If you tried flying with the gliding tailtip-fin position, you’d be much slower, and you wouldn’t be able to turn very well at all. ” As an afterthought, I sarcastically added, “You should have known that!”

 

Hiccup nodded, completely unfazed, and I continued with the lesson.

 

“For now, you should always fly with that tailtip-fin position,” I instructed, nodding at Hiccup’s tailtip-fins for emphasis. “At the speed you’re going to go, you shouldn’t worry about changing angles or positions. That’s used for gaining or losing speed and doing tricks like flipping, which I really don’t want to see you try to do. So keep it simple for now.

 

“What you _do_ need to worry about, though, is your tail. If you try to keep it straight in a turn, you’re going to go nowhere but the ground. Always twist it with your body.”

 

“What about sharp or wide turns? How do I do those?” Hiccup interrupted, eyes twinkling in curiosity.

 

I nodded. “Good question. That has to do with the angles of your tailtip-fins. If you want to make a wide turn, then flatten out your tailfins more, but be careful not to make them too straight, or you’ll get stuck going in one direction. To make a sharp turn, you have to pull your tailtip-fins, base-fins, and wings in a little and tilt one tailtip-fin straight down and the other in the regular position.” Hiccup looked at me like I was speaking an alien language. I sighed. I was never that good at teaching. “Here, I’ll show you. _This_ is a wide turn…”

 

I ran in a straight line, wings and tailfins out as if I were in flight, and began to slowly turn, flattening  my tailtip-fin out and angling my wings and base-fins. I felt a pang of embarrassment flow through me, knowing full well how idiotic I looked. It was quickly replaced by longing. I tried to shove it away. _Now is not the time to mourn over my losses!_

 

In an attempt to get rid of the distracting emotion, I stopped, and said, “And _this_ is a sharp turn.”

 

Again, I ran in a straight line, pretending to be in flight. I made sure to head towards Hiccup. Then, I pulled my wings, base-fins, and tailtip-fin in slightly and turned right. I pushed my right tailtip-fin straight down. The result was me seemingly spinning in a tight little circle and stopping halfway. I came to a halt in front of Hiccup, who still looked confused.

 

The brown Shadow-Blender nodded slowly. I had no doubt in my mind that he would not remember any of that. But still, I asked, “Are you ready to try now?”

 

Hey, I might not be a good teacher, but I do know that learning from experience is the best way to go. Hiccup won’t learn how to fly properly without making some mistakes.

 

Hiccup nodded much more enthusiastically this time, suddenly eager to get out of my teachings. “Yeah!” He turned and scrambled back up to the ledge. “Watch me get this on the first try!”

 

“Remember to flap your wings before or during your turn,” I advised. “If you don’t, you’ll just keep losing altitude and turn it into a fancy glide.”

 

Hiccup nodded absentmindedly. He crouched low and went into the proper pre-flight positionings. Then, the Viking wiggled his rump for a split second and took off into the air. He started to glide down the same path he’d done at least a hundred times.

 

I took off running, kicking dirt up with my feet. I stayed below Hiccup, in his shadow, sprinting to stay directly below him. “Do I regular or wide turn for now!” I called. “Sharp turns are too complex!”

 

“Okay!” Hiccup answered far from above, his voice tiny. He flapped his wings, gaining altitude. We were getting very close to the cliffwall now. I panted somewhat nervously, tongue hanging from my mouth, and glanced up at the human to make sure he hadn’t somehow fallen asleep midflight.

 

Then, he began to turn. Hiccup tilted his body to the left, keeping his wings in a straight, vertical line. His base-fins followed the same motions, but I only looked at them for a split second. It was his tailtip-fins I was more focused on.

 

They were in the default position I had shown him, though his left tailtip-fin was angled slightly down. I grinned in excitement. I hadn’t told Hiccup to do that! I’d specifically left that part out so he would learn to do it himself. But it seemed my ‘learn-by-knowing-how-it-works’ tactic payed off.

 

Halfway through the turn, Hiccup flapped his wings once, letting out a victory cry. I joined him, only pausing to catch my breath when I needed to jump over or swerve around a boulder. Then, the Viking straightened out, reared up, and flapped several times, holding his tailtip-fins back straight. He landed straight from that spot onto the ground (very clumsily, I might add.) and turned to me with the biggest smile I’d ever seen from him. I knew I was mirroring it.

 

“I did it!” Hiccup cried, bouncing on his feet like a hatchling. “That was _awesome!_ ” He leaned forward and rubbed his face against mine quickly before pulling back and dancing around me in a half-circle. “Let’s do it again!”

 

I blinked several times, watching as the Viking turned and began to run around the lake, rambling the entire time, not even giving me a chance to react. My cheek still felt like he was rubbing against it.

 

_I had felt that same way on my first success,_ I thought solemnly. But seeing Hiccup’s overjoyed expression, though it brought another wave of nostalgia, ruled out the sadness with pride and…happiness. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to just _feel_. I knew I would not get over losing my flight in a single day, and that it would hurt. But I would deal with it, just like everything else in life. And like all tragedies, it would slowly stop hurting, until it barely did at all. Right now, I couldn’t wallow in self-despair. Besides, the fact that Hiccup had actually _flown_ on his first day was making me just as happy as he was.

 

Well, maybe not _just_ as happy, but pretty damn close. Did that mean we were making progress? Were we forming…a friendship?

 

I opened my eyes and saw that Hiccup was already waiting on the ledge for me. I seemed to have been thinking for too long, though, since he took off again.

 

I watched as the Viking went into another ‘regular’ turn, flapping his wings several times to speed up. _He’s going too fast,_ I realized. _His tailfins aren’t angled correct—ooooh, that had to_ hurt!

I began to run towards the grounded Hiccup, the concern washing away when he got up and shook his body in frustration. Stopping in front of him, I told him, “You were going too fast. You should have widened your tailtip-fins out more or brought your wings and tailfins in and tried a sharp turn.”

 

Hiccup nodded sullenly. His wings drooped and he hung his head. “I thought I got it,” he murmured.

 

“Nobody gets it right on the first go,” I tried to sound comforting. I pushed my single-finned tail under his chin and forced him to raise his neck. “Don’t be a sore loser. Practice makes perfect!”

 

Hiccup brightened considerably. _Boy, this human perks up at just the slightest bit of encouragement!_  I thought in amazement. _Maybe I should change my teaching tactics a little._

 

The Viking folded his wings behind him, panting slightly. “Will you come with me this time?”

 

I nodded. “Of course.”

 

* * *

Hiccup swooped above me, his brownish-black form highly contrasting against the red-and-orange sky. He pulled his wings in, tilted his body sharply to the right, and twisted midair, flying perpendicular to his original direction. Then, he tucked his wings in and headed straight for the ground, landing awkwardly and sprinting to avoid falling head-over-tail.

 

I silently made my way over to him, eyeing how his wings and tailfins were trembling. The human’s head was bent low and he was panting heavily.

 

“That was good,” I said, “but you’re overworking yourself.” I rolled my eyes when the persistent little thing shook his head and straightened in a false act of power.

 

When Hiccup had gotten the basics of turning down, which had taken several hours and lots of crashes, he had seemed to make it his personal mission to learn how to fly in a single day. It was an impossible task. We still had to cover gaining altitude (it may seem simple, but it did have complex tailfin movements, and if one did them wrong, they would crash. It was why I couldn’t just fly straight out of the cove.), landing _properly_ , gaining and losing speed at will, diving, and so much more. It was just too much.

 

Hiccup, being the _incredibly_ stubborn Viking he is, had refused to believe it, and had resumed practicing. He even continued to do it after I had simply stopped giving him instructions. Of course, I still talked to him, but I never told him what he did wrong or right.

 

Stupid human.

 

“I’m fine,” Hiccup gasped. “Really.”

 

“No, you’re not.” I flashed my wing out, slapping him right in the shoulder. Hiccup flinched and took a sharp intake of breath, using his own wings to block his body from me. “See? You’re in pain. Now, for the love of the Dragon of the Sun, go sit down and rest!” I gave him a glare, staring him down when he tried to resist. “Seriously, Hiccup!”

 

The fight immediately went out of him. Hiccup just stood there, panting, and then nodded. He turned away and began to walk towards the tree-covered area of the cove (moving out of the stray pine-trees in the process), tail dragging on the ground. After a few seconds of internal debate, I followed after him, running until I caught up to him and walked side-by-side with the Viking. We finished the short walk there in silence.

 

Hiccup dropped to the ground heavily once he was under the trees. He curled up in a ball, slowly regaining control of his breathing. I was shocked that he hadn’t just passed out. (I’ve actually seen dragons do that midair…it’s pretty funny. If they don’t get hurt, that is!)

 

I sniffed a spot next to Hiccup before sitting down. Blankly, I gazed around me, a little bored by the situation. If Hiccup fell asleep, there really wouldn’t be anything for me to do. Maybe I could try to catch some fish…

 

“Hey, Toothless?” Hiccup spoke up after a long, boring, awkward silence. I turned to look at him, perking my ears slightly to show that I was listening. “What’s the Dragon of the Sun? You keep mentioning him.”

 

I felt my jaw drop. _Who was the Dragon of the Sun?!_ That was like asking what the sea was!

 

“How can you not know?!” I gasped, jumping to my feet.

 

Hiccup blinked in surprise. “Well, I wasn’t born into dragon culture or anything.”

 

Oh. Right.

 

I felt an embarrassed smile form on my face. To cover it up, I said, “He’s one of the two gods who formed the world. He lives in the sun.”

 

Hiccup ‘s ears twitched, interesting alight in his eyes. “He formed the world? With who else?”

 

“The Dragoness of the Moon, of course!” I laughed. Surely Hiccup would at least know _that_ one. There was always a god or goddess of death in any culture. But Hiccup’s blank expression told me that he had no idea who even the _Dragoness of the Moon_ , the most divine of the gods, was.

 

“Does she live in the moon, then?” Hiccup asked, furthering my belief that he was in need of some serious religious teachings. How could he possibly be walking around as a dragon without knowing about the mighty duo?

 

I shook my head, grinning. “The moon is her eye.” I snorted at how quickly Hiccup’s interested expression evaporated. “Her other eye was torn out by the Dragon of the Sun. That’s why he’s in the sun, because she put him in it as punishment.”

 

“Woah, woah, woah!” Hiccup cried. “I thought you _liked_ the Dragon of the Sun. Why is he seen as…”

 

“Bad?” I finished. Hiccup nodded. “Well, not everyone is perfect. Even the gods.”

 

Hiccup gave me another blank look. I sighed. “I’m going to have to explain this one, aren’t I?”

 

Hiccup nodded sheepishly. “Well, yeah. You can’t just tell me one part of it and expect me to get the rest. It’s like going up to someone and saying, ‘wanna hear a story?’, and then walking away!”

 

I gave him a warning glare. “Quiet, or I won’t tell you.” When the Viking instantly fell silent, I began:

 

“In the beginning, the earth was just a dark, rocky place that could hold no life on it. It was flat and smooth all the way around, like an egg. Which, actually, is _exactly_ what the earth was. The egg floated in the heavens for millions of lifetimes, nurturing the creatures within, the only two living things. This time is usually seen as an evil place, since the gods weren’t born yet. It’s called the ‘Prebirth’. If someone wishes you to that place, it is the greatest insult. Dragons have killed each other over it. And it’s completely…well, the only term for it would be ‘legal’. Don’t give me that look! Yeah, that’s what I thought…

 

“Aah…where was I? Oh yes! The Prebirth ended. The top and bottom of the world cracked, and a blinding light spread across the entire planet. Two dragons, fully-grown, crawled out of the cracks and collapsed onto the ground. The Dragon of the Sun came out of the top of the earth, and the Dragoness of the Moon the bottom. When they came out of their shared egg, the sun and moon began to form. The sun took shape above the Dragon of the Sun, and the moon above the Dragoness of the Moon.

 

“But there was a problem. You see, the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon weren’t exactly best friends. In fact, they hated each other. They only knew the other existed because they would catch a glimpse of the other’s heavenly body, but it was enough to send them into a rage. Both of the two wanted the earth for themselves.

 

“So, they set out on a journey towards each other. They flew across the egg of the earth and met halfway, clashing in battle. The Dragoness of the Moon was smaller than the Dragon of the Sun, but faster. The Dragon of the Sun had brute force and sheer size on His side. He was two times bigger than the Dragoness of the Moon, so when He fought Her, He overpowered and beat Her. Afterwards, He started to destroy everything in His path in a show of power. When the Dragon of the Sun was done wrecking their home, though, He turned His sights on the Dragoness of the Moon. To humiliate Her, He struck Her and ripped out Her left eye.

 

“The Dragoness of the Moon, in a fit of rage, gathered up all of Her power and shot the Dragon of the Sun in the chest. She grabbed him, spread Her enormous wings, and began to fly Him off the earth. The Dragon of the Sun, too weak from His rampage and stunned by the sheer force of the blow, wasn’t able to do anything. Then, the Dragoness of the Moon became the first of our kind to use magic, and thrust the Dragon of the Sun in the sun and sealed Him in it. After that, She flew to the moon and used Her magic to become one with it, replacing Her right eye with the moon so She could see everything on earth. She reformed it as it was before the Dragon of the Sun had destroyed everything.

 

“The Dragon of the Sun wasn’t done yet. He begged the Dragoness of the Moon for mercy. Eventually, the Dragoness of the Moon succumbed to His constant pleas and released Him. This is seen as the Dragoness of the Moon’ biggest mistake in history; because, instead of going after Her, the Dragon of the Sun set to destroying the earth, knowing that the Dragoness of the Moon’ magic was far greater than His own. He wanted to get rid of Her possessions, so She would have nothing, just like Him. He dug deep caverns, formed sharp mountains, and flattened almost everything until only a few islands remained.

 

“The Dragoness of the Moon was horrified at what She had done. But whenever She tried to stop the Dragon of the Sun, He simply put a shield around Himself, rendering Her attacks useless. Her magic was still too weak to break it, and the Dragon of the Sun refused to listen to Her when She cried out for him to stop.

 

“When the Dragon of the Sun eventually came to a halt due to exhaustion, the Dragoness of the Moon called a truce. She told the Dragon of the Sun that She didn’t want their home to be wrecked any further, and if no single dragon could have it, then they should both share it equally. The Dragon of the Sun grudgingly agreed, knowing that if He refused, the Dragoness of the Moon may unleash another torrent of magic onto Him.

 

“After the truce was formed, the Dragon of the Sun began to reshape the earth. He built larger islands, enormous continents, gorges for rivers, and everything else. Then, He opened his mouth and breathed water onto all of the earth, filling the entire planet up. The Dragoness of the Moon then took Her part, and used her own breath to give life to the creatures of the world. Plants sprung up, fish began to swim, and animals like dragons and humans began to walk the earth. The stars are Her footsteps in doing all of this.

 

“The Dragon of the Sun went down on the future leaders of the more intelligent creatures and taught them about laws and order. He showed them how to run a civilization, pack, or even a family, depending on the species. He taught them about sins and truths and about Himself and the Dragoness of the Moon. This knowledge was supposed to be passed down to all species, but only the dragons remembered it.

 

“The Dragoness of the Moon, in turn, told the world of lies and rejection. She knew that the Dragon of the Sun was starting to win their subjects’ favor, and that He was tipping the scale in His direction. The Dragoness of the Moon evened it out by teaching all who were willing to listen how to fight, kill, steal…pretty much any negative action. In doing this, She inspired fear and admiration of Her, making her even more influential.

 

“It’s common knowledge that the Dragoness of the Moon is more powerful than the Dragon of the Sun. But this isn’t because of the fear of Her; it’s because She carries the heavy burden of death on Her shoulders. The Dragoness of the Moon created life, and, therefore, She has to take it. She only comes to take those away when it is their time, and it is said that She is very kind in doing so. The Dragoness of the Moon is loved because, instead of being cruel, She waits until She no longer can to take out any living being. The Dragoness of the Moon loves us, you see.

 

“The last thing the two did before fully returning to their roles was make smaller, weaker gods. They sent those gods to specific places, like forests, or oceans. Some of the gods were given topics to rule over, like wealth and secrets.

 

“When the Dragoness of the Moon and the Dragon of the Sun were finished with the mortals, they returned to their heavenly bodies, where they earned their names from. The Dragon of the Sun went back inside the sun to keep it burning and warm, so He could keep his subjects alive. The Dragoness of the Moon wrapped around the globe and allowed Herself to become one with the moon again. The two came upon an agreement where the Dragon of the Sun would come out in the day, so He would be worshipped in the day, and the Dragoness of the Moon would come out at night, so She would be worshipped at night. The only exception to this is when one prays about something similar to death or war; the only god they pray to for those two subjects is the Dragoness of the Moon. But, dragons may only pray to the two in times of great emotion, or both of them will think that they are just lowly gods in our eyes. And…that’s how the world came to be, I guess.”

 

Hiccup stared at me in awe, clearly having not expected such a detailed backstory. I guess he’d just assumed that all dragons were barbarians, since a dragon and human had never really bonded or have been able to communicate with each other. Of course, us dragons had assumed that humans were just overdramatic monkeys that knew how to kill very well.

 

“Wow,” he said. “That’s pretty cool. I never knew any of that…do you truly believe all of it?”

 

“Of course!” I grinned at the absurdity of the statement, shifting my position slightly so I was lying next to Hiccup and still able to get a good view of him. “What, you think I’d just go running around without any gods to look up to?” On a more serious note, I added, “You believe in them, don’t you? I mean, you _are_ a dragon now…you should believe in the _dragon_ gods.”

 

Hiccup shrugged. “I don’t know…it doesn’t sound much like my gods, but then again, it could be my culture that is wrong…”

 

I easily picked up the hint. Hiccup wanted to tell me about his world.

 

And I _so_ did not hear about it. My explanation of the origins of the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon would be considered very short, and the Dragoness of the Moon was already showing Herself over the horizon. With Hiccup’s tendency to overdetail everything, we’d probably end up talking about his gods the entire _night_ and into the morning.

 

So, instead, I just smiled cockily and said, “It probably is.”

 

Hiccup raised a brow at me. “You, sir, are _modest._ ”

 

“I know!” I declared overenthusiastically. My tail swished and my ears stood up in a diagonal slant. I started to say something about me always being right, but an enormous yawn cut me off.

 

Hiccup began to do the same. He inhaled deeply and squeezed his eyes shut, as if fighting off tears.

 

“I think I’m going to call it a day,” I decided after a moment of awkward staring. I stood up and stretched a little to help loosen my legs and wings.

 

“What? But we’re barely into the night!” Hiccup protested.

 

“Well, we have a lot to cover tomorrow. And if you think you’re sleeping in, you’re crazy.” I raised an eyebrow at the human, who blinked several times and feigned horror. Well, I think he feigned it. Sleeping is serious business for humans.

 

I turned, and in a neat jump, leaped up onto the strongest pine-tree, which towered over us a couple meters away. I climbed up the trunk using my claws, wrapped my tail around a strong-looking branch, and allowed myself to drop, using my hind claws to hold me in the air. My tail helped hold me up and I swayed slightly. I wrapped my wings around my body, tucked my chin into my chest, and closed my eyes. Sleep sounded _very_ good right now…

 

“Why would you _do_ that?!”

 

I opened my eyes and sighed.

 

This was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

“Wake up, Shorty! Rise and shine! The early bird gets the worm…or something. Come on, hurry up!”

 

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that Toothless’ obnoxious wake-up call would stop. I wasn’t very lucky. The dragon stopped with his leaping over me (and coming inches of landing on my wings) and unceremoniously grabbed my scruff and hauled me to my feet, forcing me to stand up. Then he pushed me forward, causing me to stumble out from under the trees to avoid introducing my face to the ground.

 

Lovely.

 

With a groan, I slowly opened my eyes only to blink several times in disbelief. It was still dark out! _Very_ dark! Even if the moon was no longer visible, one could easily see the stars! Was Toothless out of his mind?!

 

I glared at him. He gave me a full-toothed grin.

 

“Hey, it’s _you_ who wants to learn to fly so fast. If we get up early, you learn more,” Toothless told me. I blinked stupidly, trying to pull myself out of the sleepy haze I was in. After a few seconds of (tired) silence, the dragon grunted in exasperation and slapped me with his tail. “Come on, go to the ledge!”

 

“Can’t we just sleep until the sun comes up?” I asked sleepily, slowing walking towards the starting ledge. “I mean, there really is no rush…”

 

Toothless laughed besides me, slowing his pace down so he wouldn’t go ahead of me. “ _Really_? Yesterday, I had to _force_ you to stop.” His smirk couldn’t have been any wider. I suppressed another groan. Gods, this dragon just _loved_ to torture me! He was enjoying every second of this!

 

_How in the world is he so…_ happy? _It’s so early!_ I thought in exhaustion. Watching the Night Fury lose patience with my slow pace and run ahead, I considered, _Maybe he’s just as hungry as I am. Or he likes to be a show-off and flaunt his morning-dragon-ness to me._

_I think that’s it._

When I finally reached my destination, I was a little more awake. Key word: little. I still felt like I was half-asleep, like what was going on around me wasn’t quite real. I stood, staring tiredly at Toothless as he launched into an explanation on top of the ledge. I didn’t even realize that what he was saying was important until he jumped off the ledge, straightened out, and flapped his wings several times. The Night Fury managed to gain quite a height before suddenly falling. He flipped midair and easily recovered, gliding a short distance away and landing softly on the ground.

 

I shook my head and blinked. _Aw, crap! What was he trying to show me?_

 

“Alright, your turn.”

 

“Whuh?!” I gasped. My eyes darted back and forth, unwilling to rest on Toothless’ face while he walked over to me. Judging by his expression, I think he had easily figured out that I hadn’t been listening. At all. Cover blown, I settled for a sheepish grin, lowering my ears and head. “Uh, sorry,” I apologized, “I’m really tired.”

 

Toothless sighed. “I can see that. Did you at least look at my fins?”

 

I gave a nervous laugh. “Uuuh…”

 

Toothless opened his left wing and pushed it against my shoulder. “You should pay attention more!” He scolded, “what if I had been running from some humans? You wouldn’t have known until they shot you! _And_ ,” he flashed his wing out again, hitting me much lighter this time (I don’t think he noticed.), “I just spent a good ten minutes explaining it to you, and you were just sitting there _daydreaming?_ ”

 

“Well, I’m tired!” I defended myself. “I never get up this early!”

 

Toothless snorted and started to walk away, gesturing for me to follow. “You should! It would help you!”

 

I arched my neck slightly. “How could that possibly—“

 

“Pay attention this time!” Toothless loudly interrupted me as he stopped in front of the starting ledge. He turned away from me, crouched, and jumped up, flapping his wings until he could just drop down on the ledge. I began to follow, but quickly stopped when Toothless ordered, “Stay there!”

 

I rolled my eyes and sat down, wide awake. _Someone_ woke up on the wrong side of the tree branch today.

 

_Well, I did sort-of ignore him for awhile there…_ I thought somewhat guiltily. When Toothless called out to me impatiently, I pricked my ears to show him that I was listening.

 

Toothless nodded and spread his wings and fins. “Alright. We’re going to work on takeoffs right now. You’ve already got the basics, right?” He asked.

 

I nodded. “Yeah. Flap my wings a lot, angle my body up, and…” I narrowed my eyes, struggling to remember. “Flatten my tailtip-fins out a bit? But keep them in the default angle?”

 

Happiness washed over me at seeing Toothless’ proud smile. I was actually getting this right!

 

“Yes, perfect!” Toothless laughed. “I’m surprised you got that! But there’s more to it,” He added quickly, making my smile dissolve quite a bit. “You see, taking off is hard because it takes the most energy. You have to focus on keeping everything right and use your muscles in the correct ways to actually get in the air. That’s why I was talking so long…but since you weren’t paying attention, I think you can just figure it out on your own.” An evil smile spread across his jaw. I died a little on the inside. “So, why don’t you come up here and give it a go?”

 

“W-what?! That’s hardly an explanation!” I complained.

 

“Well, if you had listened earlier, you would know,” Toothless said with a raised brow. He jumped off the ledge and dropped down next to me, gesturing with his head for me to go up. “Just get as high as you can and come back down.”

 

I huffed loudly and climbed up on top of the starting ledge. Closing my eyes, I tried to replay Toothless’ takeoff earlier, hoping to remember what moved and what didn’t.

 

With a deep breath, I opened my eyes and fixed them on the treetops on the opposite side of the gorge. I paused for a second and then leaped into the air, pressed my legs in, and pumped my wings, trying to put as much power into each of them as I could. I angled my tailtip-fins slightly down from the default angle, and almost immediately felt the urge to flatten them out completely. I fought the muscle-memory as fiercely as I could, narrowing my eyes and clenching my teeth.

 

I heard the sound of wind rushing past something moving fast below me, and looked down. Toothless was gliding swiftly across the lake, watching me from below. “Keep going! Don’t get distracted!”

 

_Easier said than done,_ I thought. I turned to stare up at the treetops and nearly froze in shock. They were so _close!_

 

I flapped my wings wildly this time, holding my front legs out and trying to position my body backwards, desperate to keep myself from slamming into them.

 

I realized too late that I wasn’t angling myself properly. I could only cry out in pain as I hurled straight into the upper branches, losing balance and spinning out of control. Branches of all different kinds smacked into me, broke, and hit me again when I flew right through them, screaming the entire time. I opened my eyes slightly to try and see where I was going. An enormous tree trunk that I was heading straight for greeted me.

 

“Oh, come on— _Gyah!_ ” I covered my head with my paws and flew headfirst into the trunk, snapping it. My body painfully curved around and slid across the destroyed tree before I fell flat into the ground. I bounced once and tumbled head-over-tail for a few seconds. When I finally came to a dizzying halt, I couldn’t think straight. Stars surrounded my entire field of vision, and my side hurt like hell...

 

In the distance, I heard Toothless cry out, “ _Hiccup!_ ” His voice was small and faded. I could barely hear it.

 

I groaned loudly in pain. My muscles, especially my shoulders, were all sore _. I shouldn’t have pushed myself that hard and just focused and gaining height for more than a few seconds_. Cursing myself for being an idiot, I began to untangle my wings, tail, and feet from each other so I could just get back to Toothless. Even though the fact that I had managed to get out of the cove was exciting, it was also dangerous. I knew that there could be Vikings hunting at any moment, and if they saw me, it would be over. I also had to be on the lookout for wolves and panthers.

 

Besides, I couldn’t just leave Toothless.

 

“ _Hiccup!_ ” Toothless shouted again, his voice strained.

 

I hastily got to my feet and checked my body for injuries. I had a visible scratch running from behind my elbow and about seven inches across my side. Many of my scales were shattered or chipped. But my tailfins and wings were fine, which was all that mattered. I sighed in relief. Even if the scratch hurt, it was already scabbed over. I’d just have to be careful.

 

“I’m okay!” I called back. My voice echoed several times, making me flinch. I’d better get back to the cove, and fast.

 

I turned towards the path I’d come from, eyeing the destruction I’d created. Shattered tree branches were everywhere and several small tree trunks (plus the thick one I’d just flown into) were lying on the ground or leaning on another. It was fairly easy to tell where I’d come from.

 

I followed the path, warily watching my surroundings. I continued to check behind me for any signs of something following me, pricking my ears and tensing whenever something moved. It wasn’t until the trees thinned out that I finally calmed down. I heard something crackled far behind me, jumped, and sprinted the rest of the way there.

 

I skidded to a stop at the ledge, panting, and looked down. Toothless was busy clawing his way up the cliff and had somehow managed to get about halfway up. His head shot up and he looked at me. We locked eyes for a split second before the dragon lost balance and fell, only avoiding a painful fall by flipping over and gliding across the lake and to the other side. He landed and looked over his shoulder at me, a small, relieved smile on his face.

 

I jumped into the cove and glided down towards Toothless. When I landed, I quickly glanced behind me towards where I’d come from. I still felt like something was waiting, hiding in the depths of the shadows, preparing to strike like a viper to an unsuspecting mouse.

 

“Are you alright?” Toothless asked beside me, circling around me and sniffing at my scales. “You’re edgy. Did you see something?” He nudged me worriedly when I took a few extra seconds to respond.

 

“No,” I said. “I…I don’t know,” I sighed. “It’s really stupid, but I feel like something’s watching us.” I tried to grin at Toothless, but his completely-serious face ruined my joking mood. The Night Fury stared in the direction I’d come from and perked his ears. After several seconds, he relaxed.

 

“We’re fine,” Toothless reassured me, “it’s probably because it’s dark in the forest. The sun still isn’t up.”

 

“No way, Captain Obvious,” I said dryly. The dragon scoffed in a false offense and slapped me in the face with his tail. “Ouch! _Why?_ ”

 

Toothless chuckled. But then he frowned, and sniffed at me. I blinked when the dragon went to my side and seemed to take a great interest in it, watching it like it was about to snap at him. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was looking at my scar.

 

“Oh, I hit a tree,” I explained.

 

Toothless looked at me, and then back at my injury. “…it smells infected,” he finally said after a long silence.

 

“Huh?” I reared my head back in surprise. “But I just got it!”

 

“So?” Toothless brought his nose close to me, still studying my wound. “You probably rolled around in the dirt, and a virus of some sort latched on…” His face wrinkled, and he brought his head back. “I don’t know _how_ you didn’t notice. It smells awful. Surely it would be deadly…” He seemed to catch himself midsentence and trailed off, staring at my injury.

 

I stayed silent, at a loss for words (half out of confusion; what the heck was a virus?). Even when I was concentrating, I couldn’t tell that my scar was infected. To be honest, I thought that Toothless was just overreacting. Maybe I rolled in some foul-smelling plants earlier.

 

Something flashed across the dragon’s face. Then, Toothless adopted the thoughtful expression he always wore when he was about to make a big decision. The same glassy-eyed, ears-tilted-back, completely still look to him that made him seem like he was in a state of eternal pondering. I tipped my head to the side, wondering what he was so worried about. Sure, the injury was rather big, but it had stopped bleeding. I was fine.

 

“Lay down,” Toothless ordered me.

 

My ears stood up. “What?”

 

“Lay down!” The Night Fury repeated forcefully. I blinked several times in shock. His eyes held a worried, angry fire in them that I had only glimpsed in those terrible moments under the lake.

 

Completely confused, I stood still until Toothless harshly repeated the command. Only then did I so as I was told. Toothless walked in a circle around me and stopped at my side, ignoring my alarmed questions. _Is something wrong? Is there a bug in it? Why are you overreacting? I’m getting up—ow! Ow! Never mind, just get off of my tail! Gods!_

 

I watched Toothless as he sucked in deep breaths, closing his eyes. He sat down right in front of me, his right paw half-raised into the air. My eyes widened at the familiar actions. _What is he--_

 

Suddenly, Toothless’ eyes opened, pupils mere slits, and he slammed his paw down on me.

 

I squealed, squirming under the firm grip. Toothless’ paw was right on top of my cut; I didn’t care if it had scabbed over or not, it still _hurt!_ “Get off! You’re hurting me!” I cried, falling onto my side and batting at the Night Fury’s leg in vain.

 

When Toothless’ paw heated up to an unbearable temperature, I froze. There was little warning before the magma-hot fire suddenly grew and attacked my wound, running over, around, and under it.

 

The pain was unimaginable. Even though the sensation seemed to be aimed at one spot, it filled my entire body up, panging in time with my heartbeat. Every movement intensified it, making it grow stronger until I felt as if my insides were boiling and I was being cooked from the inside out. It was like a fire had been lit inside me, and not the metaphorical kind that usually has some great symbolic meaning. I’m talking about _burning, hungry, devastating_ fire; the kind that wracks the body and destroys it, rendering all medicines useless. The only thoughts I could manage was _Oh gods it hurts so much_ and _Why is Toothless doing this?!_

 

I howled in agony and terror, violently kicking at Toothless with my feet and trying to slap him with my wings. The dragon only squeezed his eyes shut, held me down with his front legs, and gritted his teeth.

It felt like centuries had passed when Toothless removed his foot. The second he did, all the firey, burning sensations inside me disappeared, as if nothing had happened at all. I lay on the grass, panting and frightened, feeling as if all my energy had been drained from me.

 

Toothless sniffed at my side and nodded in approval. He looked at me and offered a small, uncertain smile.

 

“There,” he said softly, speaking exactly like a person would to someone else if they were panicking. “It’s fixed now.”

 

_Huh?_ I thought. I could only stare and watch Toothless while he lied down besides me, neatly folding his wings.

 

Toothless took in my expression and explained in the same tone of voice, “That infection, coupled with your stress and malnutrition, would surely have killed you. And…well, never mind.” He paused, and added, “I’m sorry for scaring you. I didn’t know that it would hurt that much.”

 

I sucked in a couple of deep breaths. All I could see was Toothless’ worried face and the slowly-getting-brighter sky above me.

 

With a grunt, I used my forelegs to push myself up. I twisted my neck to look at my scratch.

 

I could only manage a disbelieving expression at what I saw. The wound, which had stretched from below my elbow and along my side, was gone. What’s more, the scales around it, which had been cracked and splintered, were completely renewed. There wasn’t even a scar.

 

_Toothless…_ healed _me?_ I turned my head to gape at the rather smug dragon. He was panting slightly, too, but other than that, he looked very proud of himself. _He cared_ that _much?_

 

My eyes met his.

 

_Pride. Uncertainty. (Should I trust him like this?) Worry. Fear. A memory hidden deep, slowly resurfacing. (Was it safe to do that?) Anxiety. (Has he lost trust in me?)_

I broke the connection, closing my eyes. I didn’t want to invade Toothless’ mind. Not now. We shouldn’t depend on that strange, unspoken connection to tell if we really _are_ fully trusting each other, or if one of us is telling the truth. There’s this magic thing called ‘words’.

 

But, as I’ve said before, actions are louder than speaking!

 

I closed my eyes and  leaned into Toothless, rubbing the side of my face against his. I had to stop right after when a painful shock zipped through my body. I gasped, and simply settled for leaning against my friend’s side. “Thank you,” I breathed.

 

Toothless shakily nodded above me. We lapsed into silence. Then—

 

“Alright, Spotters, I’m pretty sure I’ve already told you that I don’t cuddle.”

 

\---

 

The wind screamed against me while I bolted through the air, only growing louder as I got closer and closer to the cliffside. I pumped my wings one more time, pulled them in, and flipped midair, turned down and spinning sideways to alter my direction. I almost pulled off the newly-learned trick perfectly. Key word: almost. Halfway through the spin-flip, I lost my balance and dropped. I caught a glimpse of the afternoon sun before the ground gave me a lovely ‘hello’.

 

I groaned and pushed myself to my feet. I was _really_ getting tired of all of this training. I had mastered my mid-flight tail positions, turnings, takeoffs, and landings. The multiple scratches and chipped scales covering my body from nose to tailtip were enough proof of that. But, for some reason, Toothless insisted that I knew at least some ‘escape maneuvers’ just in case. I didn’t see the big problem if I already knew how to do sharp turns; a quick volley of them, plus a carefully-aimed fireblast at the ground would easily give me the time to escape from any Viking hunting party.

 

I just wanted to get food! I was starving! And I’m pretty sure Toothless was, too, but he was too stubborn to admit it.

 

Toothless ran up to me and skidded to a halt. “Almost,” he told me, “you didn’t turn your base-fins with your wings in time. It made the air catching under your wings and your base-fins uneven, which caused you to fall.”

 

“Cool,” I quickly said, “but I’m really thinking that I don’t need to know how to flip when I’m just getting food.”

 

Toothless raised a brow. “And where exactly are you going to get that food? You have no hunting experience. At all.”

 

I frowned. I hadn’t really thought about _where_ I would get the food. Instead, I’d focused more on the ‘holy shit, I’m learning to fly! And I’m getting food out of it!’ factor that had dominated all of today and most of yesterday. “Uh…”

 

Toothless sighed. “Do you at least know where you can get food?”

 

“Wait!” I exclaimed. “Are you suggesting that I _steal?_ I’d rather try to fish in that lake!” I nodded towards said body of water.

 

“If you haven’t noticed, the fish in that lake aren’t big enough to be even a snack. And, yes, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting. I don’t really know how to teach you how to hunt without having any test subjects around. And I’m _certainly_ not letting you test your predatory skills on myself.” Toothless scoffed, as if the idea was completely absurd. “So, do you know where there is any spare food? Fish, perhaps?”

 

I did. There was a storage-house in between my old house and the village, right outside of the forest. People would store food there for short-term times after hunting and fishing trips before rationing it off between themselves (well, you didn’t expect us to work at that right away, did you? A good hunt causes for celebration! And an extra day to recoup from the hangover.). I knew _exactly_ where the barrels of freshly-caught, putting-it-in-there-because-it-won’t-go-anywhere-else fish were.

 

“But…stealing?” I asked, looking at my feet. “I mean, that seems a bit…”

 

“Reasonable?” Toothless intervened. “The fish in this lake won’t do any good. I can’t get out of here. You can, but you have no idea how to hunt and would probably get caught in a trap. _But_ , you know where to go for food. How else are we going to eat?”

 

I stuttered. My argument had sounded a _lot_ better in my head, but now, compared to what Toothless had said, it just felt stupid. I sighed in defeat.

 

Toothless patted me with his wing, gaining my attention. “Don’t worry. It’s for the greater good!”

 

I just gave him a raised-eyebrow stare.

 

“What? It’s true.” Toothless rolled his eyes. I chuckled and straightened up, shaking my body to get rid of the bits of dirt and grass that had stuck to it.

 

“But I think you seem to know enough to get out of an emergency,” Toothless commented casually, suddenly changing his opinion on what we would do. He looked at me expectantly. I gaped.

 

“ _Now?_ ”

 

“Well, I’m not getting any younger.”

 

I laughed. And stopped when I realized that Toothless wasn’t being a jerk and messing with my head. I blinked large, owlish eyes at him. It was his turn to laugh.

 

“Oh, your face! Ahaha!” Toothless shouldered me in a good-natured way, throwing me off-balance. “But, yes, I am being serious. I’ve noticed that you’re losing energy a lot quicker than normal lately. And you’re really skinny. And your scales are dull and…not-shiney.” He made an ‘eugh’ noise at this and wrinkled his face.

 

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “Want me to bring back some tasty sauce back, too, honey?”

 

Toothless turned wide, inquisitive eyes one me. “Saw-us? Is that some kind of exotic fish?”

 

“…AHAHAHAHA— _OW! STOP! I’M SORRY!_ ”

 Just a reminder: if you have a Night Fury for a friend, don’t laugh at him when he makes an unintentional joke. No, he will not think that you are laughing _with_ him. Yes, he will pin you to the ground and sit on you, and _it will hurt like hell._

* * *

The sound of metal meeting and clashing filled the air. The stronger of the two overtook the smaller’s sword, and he fell to the ground. Snotlout promptly dropped his weapon and tackled Tuffnut, sending the two in a squirming, rolling fistfight while Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and I rooted them on.

 

Ah, afternoon strolls after dragon training really are amazing. After you get over the unsettling ‘giant-demon-wants-to-eat-you’ factor, of course. And the annoyingly long walks from the Kill Ring back to town. Half of it was almost completely made of mud, for Thor’s sake! And _nothing_ was around except trees, grass, mud, and bridges.

 

“Get off! Alright! You win!” Tuffnut exclaimed, one side of his face squished against the ground by Snotlout’s giant hand. He kicked at his friend’s groin, instantly turning him into a little girl without a shred of dignity. I slouched and laughed as Tuffnut got out from under Snotlout and kicked him again—in the same spot—for good measure.

 

While Snotlout was assuming the fetal position, Tuffnut proudly walked over to Fishlegs, Ruffnutnut, and me. All of us awarded him a highfive—Snotlout had been a big pain in the ass during dragon training, and we were still a little peeved at him. Second day or not, he shouldn’t have made the idiot mistakes that he did. Like trying to deflect the Gronckle’s fireball with his _wooden_ shield. And then throwing the flaming object towards the rest of us in a panic. And then trying to tackle said Gronckle when it charged for him.

 

Snotlout wasn’t the only one who’d made mistakes, though. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had fought over the same shield, resulting in nearly getting their arms ripped clean off when the Gronckle gave them a well-aimed ‘pay attention’ fireblast. Fishlegs had been too busy asking them if they were okay to notice the Gronckle fly towards him, and when I jumped out of the way, I rolled right into the wall.

 

Obviously, we had a lot of work to do. But, hey, practice makes perfect, right?

 

Tuffnut laughed and pointed at Snotlout, lifting his chin into the air arrogantly. “Heh! That’ll teach ya!”

 

Snoutlout stopped in his groaning and glared up at the male twin. “Don’t insult me in front of my woman!” He growled.

 

“ _Snap._ ” Ruffnut commented as I reared my head back in shock.

 

“Ex- _cuse_ me?!” I shouted. “Who the hell died and made _you_ king?” I stormed over to Snotlout and leaned over, glaring at him. “I’m sorry, but I don’t date bossy know-it-alls who can’t even take down a _Terrible Terror._ ”

 

Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut howled in laughter behind me while I stood straight, placed my hands on my hips, and smirked.

 

“Do you need ice for that burn?” Ruffnut shrieked.

 

“He needs a whole _iceberg_ for that!” Tuffnut joined in.

 

“Yeah!” Fishlegs piped in. “He needs so much ice that…that…that his fingers will fall off!” He grinned. We all looked at him, each of us with an expression that simply said, “No.”

 

Snotlout pushed himself to his feet, snorting in amusement. “Sorry, babe, but I was doing it on purpose! I have to let Tuffnut win _sometimes._ ” His voice rising to a near-squeak mid-sentence ruined his false bravado. “And I could easily take down _ten_ Terrible Terrors!” He struck a pose, showing off his muscley arms. I wasn’t very impressed.

 

“What?!” Tuffnut exclaimed, shifting into a square-legged battle stance, arms held out apart in front of him, hands fisted. “I could easily take you down again! Ya’ wanna go?!”

 

Snotlout grinned and settled into a crouch.

 

And he immediately fell to the ground, holding his groin and letting out a high-pitched moan.

 

Everyone burst out into laughter again. Snotlout glared at all of is and rocked back and forth slightly.

 

“Y-You guys are lucky my dad isn’t in charge anymore,” he gasped, struggling to sit up again.

 

It was a huge relief when Chief Stoick took charge again, replacing Spitelout. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really himself. He’d get lost in thought during meetings, and when something happened, he’d only do something when someone directly asked him what to do.

 

I guess, under the circumstances, it’s understandable. But Berk _needs_ its leader.

 

I frowned when Hiccup crossed my mind. The last time any of us had seen him, he’d been defending us from the evil Night Fury. I’d tried to find a way to sneak out, but with dragon training starting, I really had no time. And neither did the others.

 

For all we knew, Hiccup was dead.

 

A thin hand waved in front of my eyes suddenly. Ruffnut’s voice called out, “Astrid! Hey, you in there?”

 

I blinked several times and gave her a short scowl. She ignored it and continued in a slightly worried tone, “Hey, you alright? You usually don’t space out like that.”

 

I shrugged. “I was just thinking about whether Hiccup was alive or not.”

 

Ruffnut’s expression mirrored my own. Behind her, Fishlegs and Tuffnut, now helping Snotlout stay on his feet, looked at me like I’d just ruined a good moment. (Which I probably did.)

 

We all lapsed into an uncomfortable, awkward silence. Hiccup wasn’t exactly the favorite topic of conversation in Berk, especially for us. Before any of us had seen him in that cove with the Night Fury, it had felt…unreal. Like a dream. Hiccup getting attacked by the demon for the second time was like a slap to the face, telling us that it _was_ real, and that things can and will go terribly wrong.

 

It wasn’t until we reached the crest of the largest hill in Berk, just outside of the village, did someone talk. Fishlegs must have happened to look over at the forest, because he suddenly cried, “Hey, look over there!”

 

We all followed where his finger was pointing. Off in the woods, barely noticeable, was a gap in the trees that started from the tops and trailed down to the roots. It looked strange; at one point, the uppermost branches suddenly broke off, but as you moved your gaze downwards, the destruction occurred lower and lower until a couple of trees looked like they’d been snapped. A couple were even leaning on each other.

 

“What happened there?” I asked nobody in particular.

 

The others murmured random guesses, none of them really making any sense. I looked over at Fishlegs, by far the smartest, to see what his opinion of it was.

 

The overweight blonde caught my gaze and shrugged. “It’d be helpful if we were closer,” he told us, “because then we can tell what exactly happened. It’s weird, though, since it’s right in the middle of the forest…”

 

“Yeah, smack in the middle,” Tuffnut added. His eyes suddenly widened, and he asked, “Hey, how far into forest did we go the other day?”

 

Ruffnut _tch_ -ed. “Pretty far. Why?”

 

Fishlegs suddenly gasped. It took the rest of us a few seconds to figure it out.

 

I shifted my weight back and forth. “You think Hiccup escaped?” I asked, leaning forward.

 

“It could be any number of things,” Fishlegs said. “For all we know, the cove is east of there or something. And that’s a few hour’s worth of walking, and we’re expected to be back at the docks to help with the fishing party soon.”

 

“I still think we should check it out,” I declared.

 

“Me, too!” Snotlout agreed. He walked over to me and swung an arm around my shoulder, grinning cockily and lowering his eyelids halfway. “You _always_ know what to do.”

 

I shrugged him off, making an ‘ugh’ noise. This was _so_ not the time for that.

 

Ruffnut pushed Snotlout aside and raised an eyebrow at him when he glared. “Anyways,” she casually said, turning her blue eyes on me, “are you wanting to go down there later, then?”

 

“Yeah,” I told her. “If Hiccup escaped, then we should probably try to find him.”

 

“It might not be Hiccup at all,” Tuffnut interrupted in a know-it-all tone.

 

Ruffnut crossed her arms and looked over her shoulder at him. “You only know that because Fishlegs told us.”

 

“Did not!” Tuffnut exclaimed.

  
“Did so!” Ruffnut shouted back just as loudly.

 

“ _Guys_ ,” I said in a scolding tone, forcing myself between the two twins. “Come on, let’s stay with the conversation here!”

 

Both of them scoffed and glared at each other. I rolled my eyes in exasperation, ignoring Snotlout’s speech on how the two needed to grow up ‘like Astrid said’.

 

When the annoying Viking was done, I said, “How about we just get to the village?” I didn’t wait for an answer and began to walk back down the muddy trail, quickening my pace when I saw the fishing ships sailing very close to the dock.

 

When we all got down there, the ships had already been docked and people were busy unloading the giant vessels and putting the fish into barrels for storage. Later, they would be strung and hung to dry, which would preserve the meat. I could already tell that most of the fishers and preservers (who also served as merchants) would be celebrating hard tonight; the nets were very, _very_ full. And that meant that most of us had to take the very, _very_ long walk to the storage-house.

 

“Hey, you!” An older female Viking called over to us, stalking over to us like an angry cat. “You five were supposed to be here a long time ago! Astrid, Snotlout, you two take those barrels and put them in the storage-house,” she demanded, nodding at two large weaved baskets that were bulging slightly, “and the rest of you help pack the fish. And this time, don’t crush them!”

 

Lecture finished, she shoved Snotlout and me over to the baskets, and the other three scared teenagers were sent to climb aboard the ships and do the hard task of heaving the nets up and carefully putting the cod in the basket. I would have been relieved had I not been paired with Snotlout.

 

I grabbed my basket and used the straps to heave it onto my back, silently watching Snotlout as he easily picked his own basket up. We quickly left the dock of scrambling sailors and made our way through the main road of the village, which happened to head straight towards the storage-house.

 

Well, on the bright side, it wasn’t _that_ far away. On the down side, you had to climb an enormous hill up and down it, and sitting there at the base of said hill was the storage-house. Talk about placement failure!

 

Snotlout cleared his throat and grinned. I started a mental countdown. _Five, four, three, two—_

 

“So, I was thinking, do you want to hang out later on today?” Snotlout asked me in a smooth, inviting voice.

 

_One._

 

He didn’t give me the chance to answer, and continued, “My parents have this really awesome basement, and I totally moved in and claimed it as my own. It’s so awesome! I mean, it’s a bit chilly, but a little cuddling never hurt anyone, right?” Snotlout gave me a toothy smile. I tried to keep myself from cringing.

 

“I don’t know, I’m a bit busy,” I politely said, “Plus, we still need to make sure Hiccup’s okay.”

 

It was amazing how fast the Viking’s smile was replaced by a scowl. “Hiccup is really that important?” He asked glumly, staring at the ground.

 

“If he’s loose in the body of a Night Fury he is,” I said. “And what if it wasn’t him who got out of the cove, but the Night Fury? The whole village would be in danger!”

 

Snotlout misinterpreted that as fear. “Don’t worry, babe!” He laughed. “I’ll protect you from _both_ of them if I have to.”

 

“I kind of doubt that.” I rolled my eyes and fixed them squarely on the hill. Gods, was it _running_ from us?

 

“No, don’t!” Snotlout exclaimed. He clasped my arm and brought his face close to mine. His breath smelled like rotten eggs, and, _ew_ —was there _actually_ meat stuck in his teeth? “I’d protect you from anything, no matter what! You can _always_ count on me!”

 

“ _Oo_ kay!” I loudly said, ducking under the boy’s arm and giving myself a few feet of distance. The flirtatious boy failed to receive the message and promptly scooted closer to me. “I’m fine, really. I believe you. Just stay there. No--! Stay there.” I backed up again and held my palms up, grinning out of nervous instinct. This was _way_ too awkward.

 

Snotlout frowned and backed off. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

 

We were at the base of the hill now, and started to scale it in silence. The road was muddy and slick, making our boots get covered in filth and greatly stalling our process.

 

I tried to step over a muddy patch, but the heavy fish basket pulled me back, and I began to slip and fall backwards when I stretched my leg out and lost my balance. I managed to let out a startled shout before Snotlout dramatically dove forwards and caught me.

 

“Woah, careful there! Don’t want to hurt yourself!” He gave me that strange ‘I’m flirting with you’ look again. “You’re too beautiful to get covered in mud!”

 

Blushing in embarrassment and anger, I threw my hair over my head and snapped a thanks to him, quickly regaining my footing and marching the rest of the way up the hill. I was determined to complete the rest of the trip in silence.

 

“H-hey, wait up!” Snotlout cried behind me. I was already skidding down the hill, digging my feet into the mud and leaning back just at the right angle to keep from falling. I heard Snotlout grunt as he did the same thing and nearly fall back.

 

Halfway down the muddy hill, I dug my feet in and stopped dead in my tracks. Snotlout caught up with me and began to ask what was wrong, but I just pointed at what I was looking at. Seeing it, Snotlout fell silent, too.

 

The storage-house door was slung wide-open. This wasn’t really a big surprise; we’d passed some sailors on the way through town, and they’d probably dropped off some fish and left the door open because they knew we were coming. But the problem was that the door handle was ripped _clean off_. It was lying several feet away, reflecting the weak autumn sunlight like a beacon. A chunk of wood was still attached to it.

 

“What the…” I trailed off, cautiously approaching the building.

 

“Woah, wait! Be careful!” Snotlout gasped, rushing to catch up with me and stand by my side. We heard something topple over inside the storage-house and stopped. Slowly, I shrugged the basket off and set it lightly on the ground.

 

I crouched and side-stepped to the open door, fingering my axe. I waited, and then withdrew it, shouting loudly and throwing myself into the entrance. Seconds later, I gasped and dropped my guard.

 

_Hiccup._

 

He jumped several feet into the air, arched his back, and turned to face me faster than I could blink. The Viking-turned-dragon was holding one of the fresh baskets by its straps in his mouth. He was crouched low to the ground, wings held halfway out and tail raised above the ground. I noticed that the fins on the end of his tail were held out at an angle instead of just being folded up.

 

Snotlout gasped loudly besides me, announcing his appearance. Hiccup’s wide pine-green eyes couldn’t seem to decide on looking at me, my axe, or Snotlout.

 

I couldn’t keep my eyes in one spot, either. I wanted to reassure Hiccup that everything was fine, but Snotlout was too unpredictable. When I looked up at him again, I saw a deep hatred burning in his eyes.

 

Uh-oh.

 

Hiccup’s cousin suddenly dropped his basket and charged across the tiny space towards Hiccup with a loud battle cry. Hiccup gave a muffled cry and brought his wing forward to protect himself from Snotlout’s reckless punches. He backpedaled away, turned, and bounded until he’d cornered himself against a large stack of assorted goods.

 

“Snotlout, stop!” I demanded, running towards him with the intent to tackle him to the ground.

 

“No!” He cried. “He’s stealing!” Snotlout struggled against me when I wrapped my arms around him in a vicegrip. “Let me go! He can’t just get away with this!”

 

Hiccup shifted his weight back and forth and let out a small, tiny moan. His eyebrows—I had no idea dragons had those—were bent down, and his eyes seemed to be begging for forgiveness.

 

“Wait!” I told Snotlout. “Think! If Hiccup’s out of the cove, then that means that we can go through with the plan—Ah!”

 

Snotlout suddenly yanked free of my grasp, jumped to a nearby weapons-stack, and sheathed an old sword. Upon hearing the noise, Hiccup went dead-still, and his normally wide pupils retracted into slits. His ears stood straight up and his gaze rested unwaveringly on Snotlout’s hand.

 

With a shout, Snotlout rushed at Hiccup. Said dragon screeched in fear and spread his wings out, bumping them into several different things and knocking them down. His tail lashed, and the area behind him cleared, giving him room to jump out of the way of Snotlout’s slice.

 

“Stop!” I screamed. But I didn’t dare go towards either of them with a weapon. That would end up _very_ bad for at least one of us.

 

Hiccup continued to leap on random piles of food, leather, and weapons, knocking them down in an attempt to halt Snotlout’s path. The entire time, Snotlout valiantly avoided or jumped over each obstacle, proving how useful he could be if he just focused. I cried out at the two of them again, and, just like the last time, I was ignored.

 

Finally, the human-dragon seemed to have had enough. He dropped the fish basket, turned to face Snotlout (who was behind him), and _roared._ Hiccup’s cousin stopped dead in his tracks and wasn’t given any time to react before Hiccup’s muscular brownish-black tail rose and swept him off his feet. The sword went flying.

 

“You _traitor!_ ” Snotlout screamed, bolting to his feet and desperately looking for a weapon. Hiccup gave him a defensive warning, baring his enormous teeth and letting out a short hiss. While he did this, he also grabbed the fish basket in his left claws. My jaw dropped.

 

It was only seconds later when Hiccup turned and charged right towards me. With a gasp, I dodged aside. I could only watch the brown Night Fury as he burst out the door, jumped, and began to rapidly fly away. He suddenly dropped and was out of sight within seconds, sheltered inside the forest that easily camouflaged him.

 

I slowly walked out of the storage house, shaking my head in disbelief. Behind me, Snotlout was raging on how much of a mess this was and how he couldn’t believe that Hiccup had actually done that.

 

I knew for a fact that the direction Hiccup had been flying in was towards the cove we’d last seen him in. But it didn’t make any sense. Why would Hiccup try to befriend the monster that turned him into a dragon? Surely he hadn’t killed the Night Fury; he wasn’t that experienced in fighting while in dragon form. But there he was, carrying an entire fish basket back to his hiding spot.

 

Was it possible that…Hiccup switched sides? Fishlegs had commented earlier that the two seemed to be communicating in very humanlike-manners. He said that, even though the noises dragons make sound strange, they make them to each other as often as we do to other people. What if Hiccup and the Night Fury had struck a deal? What if the Night Fury had _brainwashed_ Hiccup into thinking that he should side with the dragons?!

 

One point was bothering me the most. I didn’t know Hiccup all that well, but I did know enough of him to realize that he would hate every second of being a dragon and try to reject it. The way Hiccup had just acted, though…he’d reacted like I would expect a regular dragon to act. Not humanlike in any shape or form. He’d seen a weapon, realized he was trapped, and…panicked. The Hiccup I knew would have tried to talk his way out of it, or at least make sure he didn’t break anything. And he would have _definitely_ not attacked and threatened his own cousin.

 

Why was Hiccup acting less like a human, and more like a dragon?

 


	6. Chapter 6

The crowd standing before Town Hall was menacing in its fearless, outraged, and unorganized glory. The crowd surged like the ocean, full of people of several heights moving back and forth like a ship being wracked by choppy waves. Everywhere I looked, there were scowling faces, rigid body language, and eyes shining with the desire to hunt down and kill.

 

I wrung my fingers together in a rare act of nervousness. While these people were my own and I should have been one of the more furious people of the bunch, I couldn’t bring myself to hate what had happened. Because, unlike everyone else of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, I was one of only two people who knew the whole, entire story. At least, that’s what I think.

 

I sighed, paced back and forth, and wrung my hands through my blonde hair. Normally, I would have played it nice and smooth, but right now, my nerves were on complete edge. My head was fuzzy and it became increasingly hard to pay attention. As I sunk further and further into my own little world, the sounds of the mob became echoed and far-away, the colors twisted in distortion, and the feelings of several Vikings bumping into me and the cold, harsh wind screeching past became nothing more than an afterthought.

 

In my mind’s eye, I was back in the storage-house with Snotlout. Hiccup was fleeing away from us and I was shocked to my core. Snotlout, on the other hand, had very different feelings…

 

_“We have to tell the Chief!” He hollered, palms fisted. His entire body shook with ferocious anger. He stormed straight past me, eyes hardened.  I was intimidated for a split second._

_And then I remembered who I was. I, Astrid,_ did not _get intimidated by puny show-offs._

_“No!” I ran and stood in front of Snotlout to block his path. He seemed to be snarling just like Hiccup had been as he stared me down. I defiantly dug my feet into the ground to make sure he didn’t push past me.. “Hiccup stole because…well, I don’t know! Did you ever think that he’d get hungry, too?”_

_I knew I sounded completely confident. But, in reality, my mind was swamped with theories. Was Hiccup_ really _a traitor? Did he just do it out of hunger? Was he just getting payback? Had he somehow known we were there and was attempting to communicate with us? If so, were those sounds and eye gestures he was making his way of_ asking _for permission to take the food? Had he been decieved? Had the Night Fury tricked him?_

_The last theory immediately stuck in my head, forcing the others out aggressively. I blinked, trying to comprehend it, but was brought back to reality by Snotlout’s and mine argument. I pushed it aside._

 

_Snotlout snorted. “He could have waited for us to come back! And he STOLE!” He side-stepped me and pounded up the hill, his shoulders set and head high. I gritted my teeth and ran after him as fast as I could and was suddenly grateful for my long legs._

_“Snotlout! Wait!” Again, I tried to stand in front of the teenage boy. Fortunately, I succeeded. Unfortunately, I had managed to halt completely at the slope of the hill. The very, very steep hill that required people to skid down it._

_I took in a sharp intake of air and fell straight into the bewildered Snotlout’s arms. He squared his feet and managed to keep the two of us from rolling down the hill, thank the gods._

_“Woah!” The boy exclaimed in shock. “Astrid…Astrid…_ Astrid…ASTRID!”

 

_I blinked in shock when the world around me suddenly shriveled into a horrifying, confusing mess. The hilly ground beneath me leveled out. The colors of the world suddenly blurred and spread slightly in each direction, standing out against a suddenly pitch-black sky filled with blood-red stars—or, at least, that’s what I wanted to call them. In reality, they looked like blotches of sickly red randomly painted throughout the sky.. There was a pause, as if the world forced itself to stop._

_Two figures emerged from thin air, dropping to the ground in front of me. They were a blinding white and glowing strongly, masking out any features they had. Even so, their general shape looked familiar…_

_The taller of the two jumped. It seemed to tense as the other turned its face towards it. Then, both of the figures turned and high-tailed it out of my line of sight. I attempted to follow them, desperate for information._

_Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed me and pulled me back. I immediately whipped around, ready to fight. What I didn’t expect was to be greeted by a crowd of blackened silhouettes silently marching towards where the cliffs of Berk were supposed to be, fading off into the distance. They_ looked _like Vikings, but they all walked with the exact same body posture, rhythm, and perfect stance. It took me less than a second for me to want to get away_ right now.

_I flipped around and sprinted, gasping for air that suddenly wasn’t there. I felt more than heard a fire start, the intense flames playing behind me, casually following from behind. I stumbled and tripped, crying out._

_Groaning, I pushed myself to my feet and opened my eyes, which had been squeezed shut the second I fell to the blurry ground. I wish I hadn’t._

_A deep red, bloody monster stood before me, the two white figures making a reappearance at its mercy. The monster towered over me and the entire village; it must have been the size of a mountain. Blood dripped off of every edge that I could make out, the disgusting, sloppy_ drip-drip-drip _the only sound to be heard. It began to open its mouth, a black hole right in the center of its throat. I helplessly watched as the beast swooped down to swallow me whole—_

“ASTRID!”

 

My body jerked sideways. Suddenly, the normal world was around me, sharply contrasting the blurred, monotone place I had suddenly found myself trapped in. I hissed as the landscape flipped sideways, holding my arms out and stretching my legs out into a near-split to avoid falling into the muddy earth. Slightly disoriented, I straightened my body and rubbed my eyes that were still having trouble with the sudden onslaught of color and detail.

 

“Astrid, are you okay?”

 

I turned towards the familiar voice. Ruffnut’s worried eyes were focused on me, her hands raised, ready to catch me if I fell again. I smiled weakly at her, trying to hide how shaken I was. But it didn’t work on my best friend since childhood; she glared at me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me aside, away from the Town Hall. I noticed that the rest of our group was nowhere to be found amidst the confusion.

 

“Where is everyone?” I asked, eyes flicking back and forth to try and find the rest of our friends. I pulled my arm away from Ruffnut’s grip easily and walked parallel to her.

 

The blonde twin turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t try to get out of that. You were standing there for _minutes_ , and when I finally got fed up with it and tried to talk to you, you wouldn’t respond until I pushed you!” She pointed a finger and me and narrowed her ice-blue, worried-fueled angry eyes at me. “ _Spill_ , girl.”

 

I cringed. How could I explain something I didn’t even understand? Was it the lack of sleep? Or the stress? I didn’t know.

 

“I just…spaced out,” I said, pausing midsentence to try to organize my thoughts. Shrugging, I added, “It’s been a rough couple days, ya’ know?”

 

Ruffnut frowned and abruptly stopped walking. She faced me, her face set in a very serious way that I’d never seen before. “Astrid,” she began softly, “if you ever need something, you know I’m there, right? I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”

 

I smiled at her. “Thanks, Ruffnut.”

 

A huge, mischievous grin went across her entire face, baring all of her teeth. “Good. Now, maybe, if we’re lucky, we can get to that evil, no-good dragon before everyone else! If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you kill it!” She giggled and her eyes glinted.

 

Her gaze suddenly darted up and behind me, and before I could react, she exclaimed that she saw Fishlegs and Tuffnut and had run off to them.

 

I sucked in a shaky grin, thankful that she’d run off before I’d had to plaster on a fake smile. The thought of _killing_ Hiccup with my own hands…bothered me. I couldn’t explain it. Even though he had attacked Snotlout, it was out of self-defense, right? And you couldn’t really expect the _clutziest_ Viking alive to be able to hunt something as skittish as fish or deer, right? And there was always the theory I had on _why_ exactly he’d done it…

 

I frowned, feeling very much like a traitor. I was siding with a dragon that had just _stolen food!_ That was the _last_ thing Berk needed!

 

 _But it’s Hiccup_ , my mind informed me. _He’s different._

 

I sighed and rubbed my face with both hands, massaging my temples in circular motions. _Focus, Astrid!_ I scolded myself. _Get your head straight!_

_The Night Fury did something to him. Hiccup was stealing because he was hungry and had been tricked by that monster. He attacked Snotlout in self-defense at the last second. He went back into the forest to hide, and there isn’t any proof he’s still with the Night Fury. Therefore, he’s in the clear,_ I told myself. But even though the internal pep-talk was supposed to make me feel better, it did the complete opposite. Hiccup _had_ defended himself, yes. But he’d defended himself like a _dragon_ would. That was…that was just…

 

A fist suddenly pounded into my shoulder. I grunted, held the throbbing area, and looked over my shoulder and glared at whoever had just punched me. Ruffnut was behind me and grinning. It was strained, though, and she seemed to be trying very hard to control her expressions.

 

 _Oops,_ I thought. _Must’ve spaced out again._

 

Aloud, I said, “Thanks, Ruffnut. My life is incomplete without your daily punches.” Immediately after saying this, I threw my fist back and knocked my best friend right in the collarbone, smiling innocently when she promptly cursed and doubled over dramatically.

 

There was movement and yelling behind her, and, without further ado, Tuffnut burst out from within the mob. He glanced between Ruffnut and me and grinned toothily. “ _Oooh_ , catfight?”

 

Ruffnut straightened and scoffed at him. “The only catfights around here are the ones that you and Snotlout get into.”

 

“What?!” Tuffnut exclaimed. “That is _so_ not true, liar!” He turned around, cupped his hands around his mouth, and called into the crowd, “Hey, Fishlegs!”

 

The obese teenager eventually pushed his way into our little circle, looking very much worried. “Guys, do you think the dragons are going to start attacking the village more often, now?” He asked the three of us before Tuffnut could give him the chance to enter the argument. The unsettling question immediately quieted the squabbling twins. The only person unaffected by it was me, and I didn’t dare explain the _real_ situation with almost every Viking in Berk in hearing distance.

 

So, I reluctantly pulled on a worried expression and pretended to be just as upset as everyone else. Hopefully, the ‘gravity’ of the situation would mask my terrible acting skills.

 

“I guess we’d just have to get better at fighting,” Tuffnut responded with a casual shrug. “I can totally handle it!”

 

Ruffnut laughed sarcastically. “And I can ride on a dragon’s back!”

Tuffnut started to say something sarcastic, paused, and burst out laughing. Fishlegs and Ruffnut chuckled and I grinned. Ride on a dragon’s back? Ridiculous!

 

The nerdy one of the group eventually stopped and shook his head, his grin disappearing. “Seriously, though,” Fishlegs began to tap his fingers together, “what if they steal _all_ of our food? We’ll be doomed.”

 

“Like I said, we’ll just get stronger,” Tuffnut answered as if it were the easiest thing in the world. “If we start killing more of them, like the one who stole from us, then we’ll send them a message and they’ll back off!”

 

The female twin, for once, nodded in agreement with her brother. “Yeah, I think that we should hold off the searching party for the nest.” At our confused looks, she gestured at Town Hall and continued, “I managed to sneak in there and heard that they might plan one. But them that fat buffoon kicked me out!”

 

I blinked. “Who?”

 

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. “Spitelout,” she said. “Really, he can just be _so—_ “

 

A voice belonging to one of the few people that I _really_ did not want to see erupted behind me. “He can be so _what?_ ”

 

Ruffnut cringed, Tuffnut laughed, and Fishlegs tapped his fingers together again. I turned around to look at Snotlout, trying to keep my despairing expression off of my face.

 

Snotlout glared at the startled twin behind me, arms crossed and head held high. It took him a few seconds, but his eyes ended up resting on mine. He gave me a sly, wicked grin and winked. A tingle went up my spine; I knew very well what message he was trying to get across.

 

See, there was a reason that the whole village did not know that Hiccup was the dragon responsible for the thievery…

 

_I dug my fingernails into Snotlout’s arm and pressed my feet into the ground, leaving two foot-sized trails behind me. The bulky teenager struggled to climb down the hill without tripping. Eventually, he gave up and turned around, glaring at me._

_“_ Astrid! _” He shouted, “_ What _is the_ matter _with you?! We have to tell the others that Hiccup stole!”_

_“No!” I rejected, wrapping my skinny arms around Snoutlout’s elbow. He paused, and I took the momentary distraction to pull back and hurl him into the mud-covered ground at the apex of the hill. I rested my hands on my hips and scowled at the shocked Viking. “Hiccup wouldn’t have attacked you if_ you _hadn’t just freaked out like that and ran after him with a sword! Didn’t you see how scared he was? And,” I added, “I was sitting there yelling at you the whole time!”_

_Snotlout slowly rose to his feet, rubbing mud off of his arms. Frustration was evident in his tone and face. “But he_ stole! _And winter is going to come in just a couple weeks and we_ barely _have any food to feed the village! If it had been anyone else, even a person, you’d be out for their blood!” He pointed an accusing finger at me. “I_ know _you!”_

No, you don’t _, I snarled internally._

_Instead of saying that, though, I went on, “Hiccup was turned into a dragon only five days ago! How do you expect him to be able to feed himself? He can barely do that when it’s_ given _to him!” My mind flashed to the numerous times when Hiccup would trip whilst holding a plate of food, ruining it._

_Despite the situation, Snotlout grinned at this. I narrowed my eyes at his immaturity, feeling very much like a mother scolding her children. The boy faltered a bit at my angry look and struggled a bit with what emotion he was trying to get across. He soon settled for a glare._

_“Well, either way, he could have_ waited _for us!”_

_“How could he possibly know that we were going to come back?” I returned easily._

That’s right, Snotlout _, I thought,_ you can _try_ to win this argument.

 

Even if Hiccup may already be lost.

 

 _I violently shredded the confidence-shaking afterthought, firmly telling myself that Hiccup had only acted like a_ dragon _because he’d been terribly frightened. But the sentence stayed there, lurking in the back of my mind, whispering doubtful things and feeding off of my uncertainty._

_Snotlout threw his arms in the air. “Hiccup_ always _seems to know things! Like, remember that one time when he shot that stupid device and it hit that tree right where he said it would?” The teenager scoffed and then continued, “He may be a cheater and a fraud, but he_ is _smart. He could have easily figured it out.”_

_My palms fisted. “You don’t know that for sure,” I growled, but I could already feel my resolve beginning to dissipate and weave itself away from me._

_“I do! He_ is _my cousin! I see—I mean, I used to see him all the time!” The burly boy slouched and made motions in the air with his hands as he continued, “And he could always predict what people were going to do! Like when me and Tuffnut would gang up on him, he would always know how we would go after him and he’d get away! If he can tell what’s going to happen in the middle of a fight, then he can definitely tell what’s going to happen when he’s just sitting in a ditch!”_

Gods damnit, he’s right! _I realized._

_I opened my mouth to argue back, but I had little time to say anything before Snotlout continued in his outraged rant, “And how in_ the name of Thor _did he learn to fly?! This is_ Hiccup _we’re talking about! He’s far too clumsy to learn it by himself! And he was going really fast, too!”_

_“U-uh,” I tried to answer, but the question had caught me completely off-guard. I’d hoped that Snotlout, being more tuned on the here and now, wouldn’t bring that up. He_ had _seemed_ very _focused on the loss of food over everything else…_

_“Hiccup_ obviously _has made decided to be a traitor because he was exiled!” Snotlout said for me. “How can you defend_ that? _”_

_I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Do you really think he would turn on us that easily?” I asked seriously, opening my blue eyes to stare into the angry brown ones in front of me._

_“No,” Snotlout said truthfully, “but I would have never thought in a million years that he would steal or attack me.”_

_There was a pause of uncomfortable, tense silence._

_“Why are you even defending him, anyways?”_

_I frowned. “Because Hiccup needs our help. If anything, this should—“_

_Snotlout snorted loudly. “He_ needs _our help? Obviously not, since he_ stole food from us!”

_I held up a hand and cut him off. Even with the little time I could think about Hiccup’s reasons, I’d already singled out the only logical conclusion. When the boy put his hands down at his side, I explained, “I think the Night Fury might have brainwashed Hiccup.”_

_I was serious, too. The_ real _Hiccup would never have stolen. Period. Something happened there, in that cove, and it managed to change who Hiccup truly was._

_Snotlout’s glare fell. He looked like he’d just had some great epiphany._

_Grimly, I continued, “You’re right…Hiccup_ doesn’t _have the stuff to learn to fly on his own. And remember how Fishlegs said that dragons could talk to each other? Well, I think that there’s a big chance that the Night Fury_ tricked _Hiccup into getting food for the both of them. Soon, it’ll try to convince Hiccup that attacking the village will benefit them!” I held my arms out slightly above my waist, eyes wide. “And do you_ really _think that that would do any good to us_ or _Chief Stoick? More people might get turned into dragons! Or they’ll get killed!”_

_We were both silent for a moment. I took in a breath, grateful for the chance to reconstruct my thoughts._

_Finally, he spoke up. “Even though that does make a lot of sense, I don’t see why we have to keep it from everyone else.”_

_“They’ll kill Hiccup.” It wasn’t a question or guess, it was a statement. “If there’s still a chance that we can save him, and we don’t use it...” I trailed off, grimacing. Not only would that be dishonorable to us in the eyes of the gods, but it would also make us responsible for Hiccup’s death. Snotlout easily picked up on this and lowered his eyes to his feet._

_Then, to my despair, he looked up at me, eyes glinting viciously. “But, wait!” He exclaimed, straightening his entire body and grinning. “What if we just tell everyone that he’s been duped? Then they’ll only go after the Night Fury!”_

_I brought a palm to my face and shook my head. “You are_ so _underestimating how brutal everyone will be.”_

_Snotlout grabbed my wrist and held my hand firmly. “With me, maybe, but not_ you! _” He stared hopefully into my eyes and leaned forward. “I mean, you were_ so _convincing just now! If we do it_ together, _then they’ll definitely believe us! And maybe the elder or medics could reverse the spell and turn Hiccup back to normal!”_

_I shook my head. “It’s too risky,” I rejected. “They might not even believe us. And how do we explain how we knew Hiccup was with the Night Fury in the first place?”_

_“I’d rather take that punishment than have this happen again!” Snotlout declared. His grip on my hand tightened. I stared at it as an idea lit up in my mind._

_But I was going to try everything else before I used it. “Snotlout, I don’t want Hiccup to get killed. And we’re just two teenagers to them! Even if we both tried our hardest, I honestly think they’ll just treat us like kids complaining about trolls! They’ll just hear that we know where Hiccup went and that the Night Fury might be with him and send a kill-party out for him!”_

_Snotlout shook his head. “I don’t think so, Astrid. We_ are _in dragon training now. Now that we can fight, they’ll take us_ way _more seriously!”_

_“But what if they don’t?” I countered. “Then they’ll kill Hiccup!”_

_Snotlout paused. Then, to my disbelief, he said, “I still think we should tell them. This is_ really _serious, Astrid! And besides, Hiccup was never—and isn’t—useful. What good would it do?”_

_I narrowed my eyes. “Well, he_ IS _your cousin. And he’s the Chief’s son! If all of this made him almost incapable of his job, what do you think Hiccup dying would do?!”_

_I watched Snotlout’s grin completely wipe off his face. He stood there, thinking._

_“…I still think that it’ll work!” Snotlout stubbornly complained, shaking his head. He released my hand and brushed past me, heading back towards the village. “Now, are you coming or not? We need to tell everyone that the food’s been stolen by a dragon!”_

_I gaped at him as he skidded down the hill. For a moment, I wanted to give up._

_And then I mentally slapped myself, remembering that Hiccup would die if Snotlout went on with his plan. Even if the teenager was right about Hiccup being useless, we were talking about the life of someone from our Viking clan! What kind of village gives up on its own people?_

_I sprinted down to the base of the hill and stood in front of Snotlout. He looked annoyed at having his path blocked yet again for reasons he couldn’t fathom. I, on the other hand, was determined to get him to see my side of the argument at any cost._

_“I won’t let you do this!” I hissed. “How are you not understanding any of this?! Don’t you realize the consequences of telling everyone? Hiccup. Will. DIE!” I quickly quieted myself and glanced around to see if any bystanders had heard us. The only people around were the few adults and children that were in their houses, and none of them were paying attention to us._

_Snotlout sighed. “You don’t know that for sure!”_

_“I do! We’re Vikings! Iit’s in our blood!” I exclaimed._

_The teenage boy frowned heavily at me. “I’m telling them, Astrid.” He walked past me and I moved in front of him. “There’s no way I’l—mmff!”_

_I leaned forward and planted my lips right on top of Snotlout’s, cutting off his sentence and his path. The warm kiss lasted for only a few seconds before I pulled away. Snotlout stared straight ahead, flabbergasted, and slowly brought a hand to touch his mouth._

_“Don’t tell anyone,” I told him, feeling very defeated all of the sudden. “About Hiccup.”_

_Snotlout nodded absentmindedly with a dreamy look on his face._

_Before he could do anything else, I turned around and sprinted away._

I yanked my gaze from the buff teenager’s and walked away from him, stopping when I was at Ruffnut’s side. She looked at me, giving me a look that clearly screamed, “ _Help me!_ ” Besides her, Tuffnut was trying his hardest not to double over in laughter and Fishlegs just looked…worried. He was always worried these days.

 

“Sooo… _good_ at keeping things in order!” Ruffnut shakily said. “I mean, he kicked me right out! He’s _so_ good at…aw, who am I kidding?” The blonde twin rolled her eyes. “Your dad sucks.”

“Hah!” Tuffnut hooted. “Ain’t that the truth?” He gave the irritated Snotlout a toothy grin and placed his hands behind his neck, elbows sticking up in the air.  He didn’t seem to mind how Snotlout was slowly approaching him with a _very_ offended expression. “Come on, Snotlout, cheer up! You _know_ he can be a pain in the—“

 

Fishlegs suddenly interrupted Tuffnut. “Alright, uh, I think he’s gotten the message!” He stepped between Snotlout and Tuffnut despite being shorter than both, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. Both teenagers, already pumped up for a fight, tried to get around the overweight Viking, but he would move in front of them or push them back whenever they tried to get around him. “Let’s not start any fights, alright? We have more important issues to be worried about!”

 

“Don’t be a loser, Fishlegs!” Snotlout growled. “Let us settle this like men!”

 

Aw, _shit._

 

Immediately after hearing this, Tuffnut assumed a battle-crouch and held up his fist. “Yeah! Mind your own business!”

 

Ruffnut and I groaned. I brought a palm to my face and shook my head in exasperation.

  
“He _had_ to mention being men, _didn’t_ he?” Ruffnut sighed. “Now there’s _no_ way we’re going to stop them.” She grinned and turned to me. “Half your dinner says that Snotlout’s gonna win!” She bargained mischievously.

 

My worries momentarily vanished at the challenge. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Tuffnut, who was glaring at his sister’s betrayal. The guy’s entire body was tensed and coiled like a python ready to strike. “Nah, I think Tuffnut’s got it in him!”

Fishlegs was visibly annoyed. “You guys really aren’t helping!” He struggled to say when Snotlout tried to zoom past him at Tuffnut, just barely intercepting the attack with a swift block with his arm.

 

“We’re not trying to!” Ruffnut shot back cockily, leaning back and resting one hand against her thigh. She gave Snotlout a huge grin and yelled, “Go get ‘em, hotshot! You’re the _Viking!_ ”

 

I sent my friend a dirty look and shouted to Tuffnut, “Don’t listen to her! You can do this in your sleep!” I clapped my hands together and whooped in an attempt to be as encouraging as possible.

 

Their egos successfully filled, both Tuffnut and Snotlout overtook Fishlegs and thrust him to the side. Each of them wore a grin that rivaled that of a wolf about to give the final blow to its prey. Ruffnut and I pushed each other around, murmuring to each other about how our chosen teenager was going to win. Fishlegs stood up, crossed his arms, and pouted.

 

Tuffnut suddenly leaped into the air and hurled towards Snotlout. The bigger of the two tried to block him or push him aside, but the close range couple with Tuffnut’s heavy body weight sent them both tumbling to the ground. Tuffnut had Snotlout pinned in a couple seconds and raised a fist, cackling. Snotlout narrowed his brown—almost black—eyes and brought his own arm up to grasp Tuffnut’s shoulder—

 

_RIIING! RIIING! RIIING! RIIING! RIIING!_

Tuffnut’s head shot up mid-swing. In his distraction, he punched the ground besides Snotlout’s head. The twin yelped and growled in surprise and pain, only to scream when Snotlout kneed him in the gut and hurled him off of him.

 

Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and I all gathered in a tiny group next to the wrestling boys, staring at Town Hall. Eventually, Snotlout and Tuffnut figured out that nobody was watching and scrambled to their feet, faces red.

 

Like everyone else gathered before Town Hall, we waited for the summoning bell to stop ringing. I could see it at the top, its dragon-decorated body swinging back and forth. One could tell that it used to be painted from the subtle shifts in color, but the weather had torn it away so many times that everyone had just given up and left it gray. The enormous bell, big enough for me to fit in, continued to ring for about a minute before shuddering to a stop and leaving the entire village in a deathly silence.

 

The entrance to Town Hall—the biggest building in the entire village, resting bravely on an overhang above the ocean and towering over everything within sight—began to creak and moan as it was opened. Two Vikings hung on to each door and pulled with all their strength to drag the heavy things across the ground. The crowd shifted a bit to allow them room.

 

We all remained completely quiet, transfixed by the abnormal serious air around us. Everyone suddenly knew that this was very, _very_ serious business that should not be taken as a joke.

 

The doors seemed to let out a final, roaring boom before they were locked in place by the workers. The four of them went to the entrance and silently gestured for everyone to come in.

 

The entire village, minus the mothers and children, began to filter into the dark, dimly-lit room. A golden carving of a rare sea-dragon proudly swooped over us, hanging over our heads as if by magic. It was glaring down, about to spit fire, at a roundtable that also served as a fireplace. The table sat straight in the center of the building and held a fire in the middle of it. It imitated a dragon’s eye, with the fire being the ‘pupil’. Currently, a map was spread out across the curve at one end of the piece of furniture.

 

I grabbed Ruffnut’s arm and dragged her along with me as close to the roundtable as I could, fighting my way to the carved piece of wood. Ruffnut muttered a complaint to me, and Fishlegs, who _she_ had been holding on to, cried out for us to stop moving so fast. He was quickly shushed.

 

The doors began to close behind us and, consequently, cut off the light supply. I frowned in alarm, turning to see if we were somehow being attacked.

 

_FWOOOOM!_

 

Everyone who had never been to a Town Hall meeting—basically, my friends and I—gasped loudly and jumped when the ceiling suddenly came to life. We stared in awe at the slender, golden dragon. It’s huge, gaping mouth held an inferno in it, its eyes literally blazed with fire, and it had a mane completely made of flames. The firelight lit up the steel pillars it was connected to to show that the building was in no danger of burning to the ground. Instead, the steel pillars reflected orange-red light across the room, leaving random spots glowing momentarily and dimming out. It was like how water shone light onto a ship…only much more harsh and violent. I liked it.

 

Some people began to light torches hanging from pillars in pairs of two, and, soon, the entire Town Hall was filled with hues of red, orange, yellow, and off-white. A huge, amazed grin was plastered to my face, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it off. I ducked my head in embarrassment.

 

“ _That was so cool!_ ” Ruffnut hissed in excitement next to me. She shook my shoulder for emphasis and I had to take a step back to steady myself.

 

“I know!” I whispered right back, giving her a random fist-bump.

 

Fishlegs popped his head in between us. “Wasn’t it? I mean, sea dragons don’t breathe fire, but—“

 

He stopped abruptly when we harshly glared at him.

 

“You’re ruining the moment,” I told him, unimpressed. Ruffnut just rolled her eyes.

 

I had barely finished the sentence when someone nudged me none-too-gently in the side. I straightened, turned around, and craned my neck to look into the eyes of the man standing next to me. His blue eyes pierced straight into my skull like a hawk. Strangely, though, he had black hair that trailed down his face into a long, braided beard. He held an oversized finger to his bright red lips and hissed at the three of us, thick eyebrows pulling down in irritation.

 

“Quiet, you three!” He reprimanded us. “This is important!”

 

We all fell silent and bowed our heads in shame. The unknown man nodded in approval and turned to face the front of the table.

 

It was then that I noticed that there was some sort of commotion up front.

 

I leaned forward, ignoring the intense heat from the fire in the table, and tried to look down the entire length of furniture to see what was going on. A bunch of people were moving back and forth and looking around in confusion. Several of them were shouting at each other. The group of heavily-armored Vikings swayed for a few seconds and suddenly collapsed, opening a gap to allow a certain red-haired man to step through.

 

Chief Stoick’s eyes looked glassy and distant in the firelight. He nodded at Spitelout, who’d been walking besides him, and they walked to the front of the table and stepped onto a pedestal resting on the floor. It wasn’t long before the two of them were joined by Gobber, who took his position at Chief Stoick’s left-hand side.

 

Town Hall plunged into deathly silence. This would be the Chief’s first public announcement since the incident with Hiccup.

 

The Chief took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. We all waited in (confused) patience. No one dared interrupt him. As he slowly exhaled, our leader seemed to pull himself together and gradually opened his eyes. They flicked back and forth, taking in the massive crowd.

 

“We’re all here to address the recent… _events_ that have fallen upon our village,” Chief Stoick began, his voice catching slightly. “The main problems being the thievery that Snotlout described…and—and—” His entire body shuddered and Hiccup’s father took a tiny step back. My jaw dropped.

 

“And…’eh, what happened ‘ere with Hiccup,” Gobber spoke up gravely and cautiously. He glanced at Spitelout, who was cringing, and assumed a somewhat panicky expression. He tried to discreetly nudge Chief Stoick in the arm—which didn’t work, since he used his hook and everyone could see it. A few people chuckled, assuming that the blacksmith was trying to add some comedic relief to the otherwise tense situation. Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and I remained silent, faces frozen.

 

Chief Stoick suddenly found himself again and blinked several times. He raised his voice and announced, “We can only assume that Hiccup is d-dead. That _MONSTER_ that took over his body is merely a dragon that…that _possessed_ him. We—“

 

“Are you sure?” A deep, male voice interrupted the speech. “I was there when it happened, and that dragon looked a lot like him.”

 

Chief Stoick’s eyebrows twitched and his palms fisted and clenched together, knuckles white. “That’s because a dragon took over his body,” he said coldly, giving the man (that we couldn’t even see) a harsh glare. “It’s trying to trick us.”

 

The man pushed his way to the front of the table to get a better view. He was skinny for a Viking, wasn’t too tall, and had two giant blonde locks of hair that were braided down to his chest and ended in frizzy puffs of hair. His outfit consisted of a greenish shirt, a red and black vest made from a fox, a pair of pitch-black pants, and a huge, buckled belt with a giant bull’s horn, several knives, and one hammer attached to it. His helmet’s two horns doubled back and pointed forward, easily allowing him to move through the crowd. His most unique feature was his necklace made completely of little dragon skulls; most were of Terrible Terrors, but some were of what looked like baby dragons from much larger breeds like the Monstrous Nightmare. One could just barely see the metal chain connecting the horns of each skull to each other.

 

He spoke up, eyebrows pulled down and a grim frown slicing across his face. “I saw _him_ crawling—no, dragging _himself_ towards you in complete submission. _He_ tried to reach out to you and grab your leg. No sane dragon would do that.”

 

“What is my dad doing?” Ruffnut whispered in astonishment. I was a little surprised, too; Ruffnut and Tuffnut’s father was strong and fierce, but he preferred to stay on the sidelines than speak up. As far as I knew, he wasn’t ambitious at all. The twins had gotten _that_ trait from their mother, Smallelf.

 

Chief Stoick’s head went back and his glare softened. The two initiated a stare-down, to the shock of every Viking present, and I suddenly realized that our Chief may no longer have the support of the entire village anymore. My heart dropped to my stomach; we _needed_ our Chief, and he’d been our Chief for years. He’d been the best leader Berk had ever seen. Why would one of our own try to humiliate him in public?!

 

Spitelout finally spoke up and broke both the awkward, dreadful silence and direct challenge to Chief Stoick’s authority. “You need to learn your place, Belch. You have no right saying those things after all that’s happened!” The Chief’s brother’s face turned bright red in unexpected, vicious anger. “What have _you_ done to help the village?”

 

Belch crossed his arms and his eyebrows bent down. “I’m surprised at your audacity, Spitelout, after that horrendous hunting expedition you sent half the village on.” He smirked slightly when the short-haired, muscled man flinched. “And, if you haven’t forgotten, _I_ was the one who led that hunting trip, _I_ was the one who spotted that school of fish, and _I_ was the one who brought them all back here. Because of that, we don’t have nearly that big of a dent in our food as everyone’s making it out to be.”

 

Everyone was silent, and Ruffnut’s father held his arms out, palms up. “Yes, we have a shortage because of the dragons, but we’re not _dying._ We should focus more on Hiccup and the Night Fury then that random Nadder that stole _a_ basket of fish. One that wasn’t full, at that.”

 

“A Nadder?” Ruffnut questioned. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow at her devious grin. “I _love_ killing those things!”

 

“I prefer Gronckles,” Fishlegs piped up.

 

“ _Shhh!_ ” The man who’d yelled at us earlier rounded on us, glaring daggers at us. My opinion on which dragon was best to kill died on my lips.

 

We all cast our eyes downwards, getting a lovely view of the rum-stained floor and our mud-soaked shoes. After a few seconds, I glanced up to see if the man was still staring at us. He wasn’t. Breathing a sigh of relief, I nudged Ruffnut to let her know that the coast was clear and that we were out of trouble.

 

Ruffnut couldn’t seem to contain herself for too long, though. She leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “That was close!”

 

I shook my head at the awful feeling and sent her a glare, trying to silently tell her that we needed to listen. That guy who kept yelling at us was watching us like a hawk!

 

Ruffnut lowered her eyelids and gave me an unamused look, clearly not caring whether we got in trouble or not. She opened her mouth to speak again and I shook my head wildly.

 

Fishlegs saved the both of us by lightly punching us in our arms and gesturing to Belch wildly.

 

“…leave. For now, that is,” Belch was finishing. He fell silent and several people murmured to each other, avoiding eye contact with Chief Stoick. I tipped my head to the side slightly, puzzled. We’d only been distracted for a couple seconds! What had Belch been saying?

 

I looked over at the three men at the pedestal for an answer. Gobber’s jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor. Spitelout’s face was scrunched up and looked similar to a wrinkled tomato, rivaling the fire’s intensity. Chief Stoick looked…forlorn. Deeply upset. Confused.

 

“That’s not right!” A woman standing close to us called out, her high voice shaking in outrage. “It’s only been a few _days_ , Belch! You ca’an’t expect everything to be fine’ and happeh’! How would _you_ feel if, Thor forbid, young Ruffnut or Tuffnut were changed into a dragon? I doubt you’d be out fishin’ or huntin’!”

 

This sparked even more little debates. The quiet conversations quickly escalated into an uproar, with Viking turning on Viking to get their points across. I looked back and forth in shock, having not expecting such a huge divide in opinion. And I didn’t even know _what_ everyone was talking about!

 

“Uh, what’s going on?” Ruffnut calmly asked, leaning on the table and observing two obese men as they tackled each other to the ground. They were quickly pulled apart by their friends and pushed in opposite directions.

 

“I think they’re…uh, arguing about Hiccup,” Fishlegs awkwardly told us. I placed myself next to Ruffnut so that I was facing Fishlegs, who simply stood in the same spot as before and looked between the both of us.

 

“Of course, stupid,” I said. “We got that when that lady asked Belch about Miss Chatty here being turned into a dragon,” I nodded at Ruffnut and tried not to smile when she cackled. “We’re talking about this huge debate.”

 

Fishlegs grinned nervously. I narrowed my eyes.

 

“Do you know?” I demanded, picking up my new axe and pushing the center point towards Fishleg’s throat. “Tell us!”

 

Ruffnut straightened and walked to Fishlegs, casually slinging an arm around his shoulder. He tensed and blushed, turning his wide blue eyes at her.

 

“Yeah,” Ruffnut drawled, observing her nails. She swiftly pulled her arm around Fishleg’s neck in towards her, pushing him into a chokehold. The twin took great care stepping on our friend’s foot and pushing her knee into his gut to keep him from struggling. “ _Or else…_ ”

 

At Fishleg’s terrified look, we burst out laughing. Ruffnut released him and gave him some space, holding her sides to keep from collapsing. The poor boy just couldn’t figure out what had just happened. He tapped his fingers together and let out a nervous, wary laugh, trying to keep his shock from us.

 

I snorted and shook my head. “Seriously, though,” I continued, “tell us what happened.”

 

“Oh! Um,” Fishlegs leaned back on his heels and bounced a bit under our intense stares. “Well, uh…I think your dad,” he pointed at Ruffnut, “ _suggested_ that the Chief…eh, that the Chief…step down?”

 

“ _What?!_ ” Ruffnut and I screeched. We both whipped around and leaned over at the dragon’s eye table in unison to stare at our leader.

 

Chief Stoick, Spitelout, and Gobber were all aghast, caught off-guard from the crowd’s reaction to what Belch had said. The Chief heaved a sigh, shook his head, and placed his arms on his hips. His head hung in defeat.

 

Gobber hobbled over to Chief Stoick and slapped him none-too-gently in the side. At the Chief’s glare, he launched into a huge speech, gesturing wildly and apparently drawing out words as long as he could without sounding like an idiot. I could hear his voice rising in pitch and volume but I couldn’t make out the words. Spitelout spoke up multiple times, too, and Chief Stoick had to swing his head back and forth to keep up with the conversation.

 

Gobber smacked his hook into an open palm and said something with an encouraging grin. I barely made out the word ‘Hiccup’.

 

Chief Stoick straightened and his face set into a mask of determination. He nodded at Gobber and walked to the edge of the pedestal, eyes alit.

 

“Enough,” Chief Stoick called. I _barely_ heard his voice. A few people around him stopped abruptly and looked at him, eyebrows raised in surprise.

 

“ _ENOUGH!_ ”

 

The voices died down until only a few people were left arguing. They were quickly stopped by their friends or the realization that nobody else around them were fighting. I held my breath.

 

Chief Stoick stared at us, eyebrows pulled down and a grim frown on his face. “I will not be stepping down,” he announced. A few people began to speak up and he quickly cut them off, continuing, “This was a warning that the dragons are getting more confident! They think that they have the upper hand because we’ve been traumatized!”

 

“No, _he’s_ been traumatized,” someone bitterly whispered behind me.

 

“Shut up! He isn’t a god!” Their friend snarled.

 

Having not heard the tiny exchange, Chief Stoick went on, “Do you want to appear _weak_? We need to show them that we’ve been unaffected! The dragons need to learn that _nothing_ stops our tribe from _anything!_ ” Several people cheered in approval at this.

 

At the encouragement, our leader’s voice boomed even louder and echoed wildly around us. “We _have_ to find their nest, or what happened to my s-son will become common! They’ll take our food, steal our children, and kill any one of us that might be a threat!” Green eyes like tiny fires, he slammed a fist onto the table, sending a resounding _CRACK!_ throughout the entire building. “If we show those _devils_ that we’re still strong, then they will leave!”

 

Even more people shouted out this time. Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and I were just a few of them.

 

“We _will_ go with last week’s plans and set for Helheim’s Gate! We’ll show them what _true Vikings_ can do!” A multitude of proud yells filled Town Hall. “We’ll wipe those beasts off the face of the earth! We’ll do it for everyone in Berk and in its future!” The cries of everyone became nearly deafening. Somehow, the Chief managed to get one last sentence in. “We’ll do it _for Hiccup!_ ”

 

I swear to Odin that the intensity of the screams most of the people in Town Hall could be heard on the opposite end of the globe. Chief Stoick stepped down, looking satisfied as everyone began to filter out of Town Hall. Even though the majority (from what I could see) of the people here seemed to agree with Chief Stoick, I could make out a few stragglers grouping together and shooting glances at him before they, too, walked out. I frowned heavily. One inspirational speech wasn’t going to win the village over, it seemed.

 

I looked over my shoulder, back to Chief Stoick. He was talking to Gobber, his back facing me so I couldn’t see his face. The blacksmith’s eyebrows were bent down and he waved his arms to and fro. He tried to smile, but it was a miserable attempt that, even from the distance I was standing, looked _way_ too fake and cheery. The Chief simply shook his head and shouldered past Gobber, slowly walking towards the back exit of Town Hall. Gobber solemnly watched his friend, Spitelout at his side.

 

The two exchanged a few words and separated, each heading towards the front entrance of Town Hall. Apparently, Chief Stoick wanted to be alone. I watched him for a few more seconds in confusion before turning to Ruffnut, who was having a heated discussion with Fishlegs.

 

“We can _totally_ show off how well we’ve been doing in dragon training!” Ruffnut exclaimed.

 

Fishlegs rolled his eyes. “What changed your mind all of the sudden?”

 

“Well, back then, I was still a little tired from dragon training,” Ruffnut explained. I smirked at her logic. “But now, I’m feeling _pumped!_ ” She jumped up and held a fist. “Aren’t you, Astrid!”

 

I nodded vigorously. And then my smile faded when I finally remembered what had been bothering me before the meeting. My worries about Hiccup had been the last thing on my mind since the fight between Snotlout and Tuffnut—until now. “Guys,” I caught their attention quickly with the tone of my voice, “we need to go and talk about something. C’mon!”

 

I began to exit Town Hall. Ruffnut and Fishlegs scampered after me and walked side-to-side with me, both of them on my right.

 

“What’s the matter?” Ruffnut asked, completely serious for once. Something dawned on her, and she pressed, “Is it the same thing as when you were all spaced out before the meeting?”

 

“What?” Fishlegs asked, completely in the dark.

 

I nodded at Ruffnut. She pressed her lips together and scrutinized me. “Don’t worry, it’s not _bad_. I mean, it could be worse, but…” I trailed off, realizing I had said too much. We couldn’t discuss this while we were still surrounded by half the village! “Where’s Snotlout and Tuffnut?”

 

My best friend scoffed. “Like I care. Can’t we just hide somewhere and you can tell us now?”

 

“No,” Fishlegs joined the discussion. “Everyone should know at once so we don’t have to explain everything twice.”

 

I nodded in agreement. I _hated_ repeating myself. “Yeah. Let’s just find them first. It won’t be too hard…they’re probably trying to finish that fight!” I joked weakly. Fishlegs’ lips twitched and Ruffnut just looked unaffected. I sighed.

 

We stepped outside of Town Hall. I squinted at the sudden intensity of the sun, rubbing my eyes to try and help them adjust better.

 

So I was caught completely off-guard when a large, bulky hand grasped my shoulder and pulled me back.

 

“Ah!” I snapped my eyes open and spun around on my heel, already raising my axe up to chop away at whatever the hell was dragging me around.

 

Gobber rolled his eyes and swatted my axe away with the back of my hand, even though I had relaxed my stance the second I’d seen him. “Don’t get too skittish ‘ere, Astrid. You’ll get paranoid.”

 

He pushed me behind him, and I finally noticed that Snotlout and Tuffnut were standing aside. They were chatting with each other with huge grins on their faces, probably excited about the chance to prove themselves in front of the remainder of the village. Gobber called out to Ruffnut and Fishlegs, telling them to come over.

 

I waited for Ruffnut and then walked with her to Snotlout and her brother, Fishlegs close behind. They both greeted us and began to launch into an overdramatic speech on how they’d kill every single dragon that came into their paths. I was a little disappointed when Gobber interrupted them; it was becoming _very_ funny. (For example, Snotlout had said, “And then I’ll rip it’s heart out… _with my face_. And after that I’ll take its skull… _with my face!_ ”)

 

“Welp, we’re off to dragon training!” He announced to the five of us.

 

“What?!” Snotlout gasped. “But the sun’s barely even out anymore!” He gestured to the darkening sky above us, where a few stars were starting to wink and glimmer.

 

“You can’t expect every trainin’ lesson to be in the day!” Gobber exclaimed in amusement, his unibrow peaking. He waved a finger at the black-haired teenager and explained, “Almost all of the dragon raids are at night! Besides,” he added as an afterthought, “I had the arena switched up after you all left in the mornin’, _and_ you need the practice!”

 

We all shared a look with each other. _Two_ training sessions in one day?

 

Awesome.

 

Tuffnut chuckled and rubbed his palms together. “I’m the most stealthy out of all of us! Prepare to be amazed!” He ‘warned’ all of us, sweeping a finger between Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and myself.

 

“Hah!” Ruffnut laughed. “Coming from the guy who fell down the staircase two times in the same night last week!”

 

Tuffnut’s face contorted at the revelation. He blushed as red as a Nightmare while we all laughed our heads off. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone that!” He exclaimed furiously.

 

“Oops.” Ruffnut said in monotone. Of course, this only made us laugh even _harder_.

 

Her twin began to say something—probably an insult—but Gobber cut him off, shoving himself into our little circle.

 

“Alright, that’s enough! Go get to the ring, I’ll meet you there!” He ordered us, making sweeping gestures with his arms and pointing towards the path that led to the training arena. “Faster!” He cried out when we began our walk at a pace that _wasn’t_ fitting to his delicate needs.

 

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Gobber nod in approval before disappearing into the slowly-dispersing crowd. I was a little curious as to where he was going, but after a few seconds of brainstorming, it was obvious.

 

So, I’d say that that gave us about an hour of free time.

 

I trailed in the back of the group, listening in on the conversations. Snotlout and Tuffnut were doing their own thing in the front, trying to show off to each other. Fishlegs was nervously talking to Ruffnut, who was enjoying every second of his embarrassment and smirking. I considered talking to them about Hiccup, since Snotlout seemed to be waiting for me to make the first move.

 

“Hey, Astrid!” Ruffnut suddenly turned to me. “Fishlegs here says that I can beat you in a race. Wanna test it out?”

 

A wide smile spread across my face.

 

Eh, Snotlout and I could explain the situation with Hiccup later.

 

“You’re on.”

 

* * *

 

I fell to my knees, entire body shaky and sweaty, and gasped for air as if I were dying. I struggled to remain upright, but, eventually, my body gave out on me and I fell sideways. I was immensely grateful for the cold stone of the arena’s gate. We had to wait for Gobber to actually unlock it, so we just settled down right next to the nice, cool entrance.

 

Ruffnut simply allowed herself to fall facefirst into the ground directly besides me, groaning in exhaustion. I scooched away from her, sweat-soaked strands of hair sticking to my face and neck. The last thing I wanted was her warm body right next to mine when I was trying to _cool off_.

 

“I can’t believe,” I paused to inhale deeply, “we ran _all the way_ here.” I closed my eyes and tried to calm my heart down. The steady _ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump_ continued as loud as ever. That was the _last_ time I ever all-out sprinted a distance that took nearly forty minutes to _walk._

 

“I can’t believe I lost!” Ruffnut moaned. I heard some shuffling, the _pit-pat_ of boot toetips hitting rocky ground, and then a soft _thump_ besides me as my friend leaned into the wall next to me.

 

We sat there for several minutes, panting for air. The only other sounds were the chirps of the midnight bugs, hoots of owls, and an occasional predator’s call.

 

My mind began to flow between reality and my own little dreamworld in the peace. I didn’t even realize that I had drifted off into sleep.

 

I awoke to the sound of Tuffnut’s obnoxious laughter, rapidly followed by comments made by Fishlegs and Snotlout. I forced my eyes open and rubbed them, unblurring my vision. A sharp glance to my left showed that Ruffnut had dozed off next to me. I jabbed her in the side to wake her up before the boys could see that she was asleep.

 

She quickly woke up, snorting slightly and eyes snapping open. The twin turned around to yell at me in irritated, but I cut her off, pointing towards the men. They were slowly becoming visible in the moonlight. Ruffnut gave me a confused look and turned around.

 

“Oooooh!” She gave me a grateful grin. “Thanks!”

 

“Any time!” I said. “Promise not to tell them we fell asleep?”

 

“Yup!” Ruffnut chirped, every trace of exhaustion in her gone. She stood up and stretched, raising her arms high above her head and arching her back. I followed suit, knowing that if I didn’t, I’d move a lot slower in the ring.

 

Snotlout caught sight of us first. “Hey!” He called, waving. He broke out into a jog towards us, Tuffnut at his heels and Fishlegs lagging behind. Ruffnut and I waited for all three of them to get to where we stood before we said anything.

 

“Hey, guys!” I greeted them.

 

“’Sup?” Ruffnut asked, nodding her head once at them.

 

Tuffnut returned the nod. His smile disappeared, though, and he sniffed the air. “You guys are all sweaty!” He cried, wrinkling his nose and taking a dramatic step back. He held his hands up in front of his face as if he were being attacked by some terrible monster.

 

“Now, _what_ did you just say?” I growled, narrowing my eyes at Tuffnut. He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

 

“Well, you are. Just stating the facts!” He sighed, holding his hands behind his neck and leaning to the side.

 

Snotlout intervened, trying to reassure us. “Not that it’s a _bad_ thing! I mean, sweat means you worked out real well, and I know it’s sort of a manly thing but— _ouch!_ ” I punched him straight in the jaw, effectively cutting him off. Even though my knuckles immediately began to hurt from hitting something as hard-headed as Snotlout, I refused to massage them or show any sign of pain.

 

I turned my gaze on Tuffnut, who yelped and jumped behind Fishlegs. Fishlegs, in response, ran away from him, shouting that he didn’t want to get involved in a fight. Every time the shorter would move, Tuffnut would scamper after him like a lost little dog.

 

Of course, Ruffnut was chasing him around by then, screeching aloud that he was a coward.

 

I laughed when my best friend finally managed to catch up with her brother and promptly tackled him to the ground. The two wrestled on the ground until the female twin pinned Tuffnut.

 

“One…two…three…four…” Ruffnut drawled, a huge smirk playing on her face, while Tuffnut furiously struggled beneath her. “Five! I win!” She nimbly jumped off of Tuffnut before he could kick her. Laughing, she walked towards me and we exchanged an epic highfive.

 

Snotlout, groaning, made his way to his feet, swaying slightly when he moved his head too quickly. “Wow,” he gasped, giving me a dreamy-looking smile, “you sure have a strong arm.” His eyes twinkled, and he continued, “Do you work out? Maybe you’d want to work out with me in my basement!”

 

“Uuuh,” I stalled, shooting Ruffnut a glance for help. I deeply regretted kissing Snotlout now; not only did it make him think that I _like liked_ him, but if I flat-out rejected him, he’d probably tell the Chief about Hiccup!

 

Thank Odin Ruffnut managed to get the message I sent her. “That was some _crazy stuff_ with that dragon, huh?” She asked loudly and dramatically. Snotlout gave her a funny look, clearly wanting to ask her “what the hell is wrong with you?”, but Tuffnut and Fishlegs had already taken the bait.

 

“I know! I mean, most dragons are afraid of people during the day because we can see better!” Fishlegs exclaimed. “It’s, like, never been put down in any dragon manual I’ve read. It’s almost like they’re going against their own instincts!”

 

“And to think it was only a Deadly Nadder!” Tuffnut growled, kicking a stone. “Those devil-hearted beasts are going to pay for that! I’ll kill every single one of them and turn them into ash! I’m the legendary warrior of Berk, ya’ see?” He posed in front of us, trying to look godlike. It didn’t help that he was almost as scrawny as Hiccup had been.

 

I looked at Snotlout. He mouthed to me, “you tell them!”

 

I shook my head slightly, glaring. “No, you!” I mouthed back. Even though I didn’t care about what people did most of the time, I hated being the bearer of bad news. See, for the past couple days, the topic of Hiccup was _only_ brought up by me. A girl needs a break every once in awhile! You can’t expect me to do _everything!_

 

I sighed in relief when he slumped in defeat.

 

Snotlout cleared his throat. Loudly. “Uh, guys, Astrid and I need to tell you something,” he announced. The other three fell silent, each one apparently assuming the same thing and giving me a shocked look.

 

“Not that, stupidheads!” I said in an exasperated tone. “It’s about the dragon who stole from us earlier this afternoon.”

 

A chorus of “oooooh!”’s came up in perfect harmony. Snotlout laughed a little.

 

“You three would make a nice choir!” He joked. Everyone, even me, giggled at the resulting mental picture. I could just imagine Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs decked out in robes and singing from a little handybook.

 

Fishlegs spoke up, saying, “Okay, so you were saying?”

 

Snotlout’s mouth opened and he paused, staring off into space. Then, his body jerked, and a look of realization slid onto his face. “Oh! Right!” He grinned goofily and ignored Tuffnut’s jibes, continuing in a much more serious (and angry) tone, “It wasn’t a Deadly Nadder that stole the food, it was _Hiccup!_ ”

 

There was a shocked silence from the three. They stared, mouths wide open.

 

And then they all chose the _same exact_ time to start rattling off questions.

 

“What?! Hiccup would never do that! Are you sure?” Fishlegs.

 

“What’s his _problem_?!” Tuffnut.

 

“Why?” Ruffnut.

 

Snotlout held up a hand, a grim look on his face. He pointed to Fishlegs and said, “Yes, he would do that, and I was absolutely sure,” his finger moved to Tuffnut and hissed, “he’s a _traitor_ ,” and finally gestured at Ruffnut and finished, “because he’s switched sides. He’s abandoned us and is fighting alongside the Night Fury!”

 

I didn’t know it was possible for the three of them to be more surprised, but they were. All of them shouted in shock, desperately trying to deny Snotlout’s accusation. I was about to intervene, to say that Hiccup _wasn’t_ a traitor and had been brainwashed, but was cut off by Tuffnut suddenly rounding on me and firing a question at me:

 

“Wait, were you there?”

 

I nodded and opened my mouth—

 

“ _What?!_ ” Ruffnut gasped. She glared at me. “Why didn’t you _tell_ me?!”

 

My mouth moved up and down, but no words escaped. The truth was that I’d been completely absorbed in trying to get my theories on Hiccup straight that I’d decided _not_ to tell anyone for the time being. Saying that to Ruffnut, the person who I told everything to right when it happened, would hurt her. Immensely. She’d never held back with me; what right did I have to hold back with her?

 

I looked at my boots guiltily. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want to tell the truth. It was the best I could settle for.

 

The awkward quiet was broken by Fishlegs. “Wait, Snotlout, can you tell us what happened first?”

 

I looked up just in time to see Snotlout nod. He launched into his explanation, using exuberant hand gestures and sometimes even acting it out:

 

“Well, me and Astrid were going to put the fish away in storage, right? So, when we’re down there, Astrid noticed that the door was open. We went to check it out, and Hiccup was in there stuffing his mouth with the fish baskets!” The others blinked and murmured, and he continued, “So, I was like, ‘HEY! What are you doing?!’ and Hiccup just GROWLED at me! He GROWLED at _ME!_ ” Snotlout waved his hands around, disbelief written across his face. “After that I grabbed a sword because he was getting _really_ angry, and he started to knock everything down on top of me! If it hadn’t been for my great  agility,” he winked at me while saying this, “then I would have been crushed! Anyways, I was gaining on Hiccup, and he turned around and whacked me with is tail and sent me flying into the wall! And then he laughed and ran away!”

 

I felt my eyebrows shoot up further than possible. “Woah!” I cried, gaining everyone’s attention. “That’s _not_ what happened! Hiccup got scared when we saw him and backed himself into a corner, and the first thing that Snotlout did was grab a weapon and charge at him! So Hiccup—“

 

“Panicked,” Fishlegs interrupted me, “and eventually felt threatened and scared enough by Snotlout that he tried to get rid of him.”

 

I gave him a surprised look. “Yeah,” I confirmed. “How’d you know that?”

 

Fishlegs sighed and stared at the ground for a second. In his hesitation, we clearly saw the fear in his body posture. He held his hands together close to his chest, lightly drumming his pointer fingers back and forth in a steady rhythm. The Viking cleared his throat, and, with his eyes still on the groud, he muttered, “That’s what a dragon would have done.”

 

The air itself seemed to tense and creep away like a frightened dog. While I had been well aware of this fact, having Fishlegs, the self-proclaimed dragon expert, validate Hiccup’s condition was unsettling—at the least. There was a part of me that was hoping that I’d been wrong, that I’d miscalculated, anything! And now the truth was beating down on us like a Thunderdrum’s fatal scream.

 

Tuffnut spoke up first. “So, we have to kill Hiccup, too?”

 

“ _NO!_ ” Fishlegs and I shouted all at once. Tuffnut gave us an irritated glare, Snotlout gave me an uncertain look, and Ruffnut continued with her harsh glare (though, knowing her, it probably had nothing to do with the conversation).

 

“Astrid, why do you even _care_ about him anymore?” Tuffnut directly asked me. He stalked up to me and stopped a foot away, pointing at my face. I stood my ground determinedly, trying to hide the uncertainty that I felt about Hiccup. “Even if you and Snotlout don’t agree on what happened, you _both_ told us that Hiccup attacked Snotlout!”

 

I said with as much conviction in my voice, “Hiccup’s probably been brainwashed by that _evil_ Night Fury. He’s just a puppet! He doesn’t know what he’s doing!” I spread my arms out high above my head. “It would explain why he was growling, and why he _whacked_ Snotlout—“ I said this pointedly, narrowing my eyes at the aforementioned teenager, “—and why he flew back towards that giant cove.”

 

“Huh? Wait!” Ruffnut stalked up to stand next to her brother, quickly followed by Fishlegs at her side. Snotlout moved so he was standing parallel to me. From afar, it would look like the twins and the bookworm were teaming up on Snotlout and myself—especially since Ruffnut was giving me an ice-cold look. “He went back to the _cove?_ Where the Night Fury last was?”

 

I nodded solemnly. “That’s what I think. We seem to be the only Vikings here who know about it, and walking around the forest might’ve put him in danger of getting caught by a hunting party.”

 

Ruffnut leaned back and away, hurt clearly written across her face. “I can’t believe you weren’t going to tell me,” she hissed.

 

I grimaced. “No, it’s not like that!” I exclaimed. “I was waiting to tell _all_ of you. The only reason Snotlout knows is because he was there! I mean, you didn’t tell Tuffnut, right?” I desperately asked Snotlout. He shook his head.

 

“I don’t care!” Ruffnut shouted, angrily swinging at the air. “I flat-out _told_ you that I knew that something was bothering you, and you _lied!_ You said that nothing was wrong, when, obviously, there is! And you said it straight to my face!”

 

I let my left arm dangle uselessly to the side and held onto it with my right hand. I cast my gaze downwards. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, trying to be as sincere as I possibly could.

 

I felt my friend’s eyes boring into my head and winced. Nobody said anything.

 

“I guess,” Fishlegs timidly spoke up, once again being the first, “we should just go find Hiccup and ask him. We don’t know if he did that because he was brainwashed. The Night Fury could have easily left that cove, and Hiccup might feel comfortable there because he knows there’s hiding spots that we can’t see. Let’s just…go tomorrow. Hiccup will explain everything to us.” He looked at each of us for any sign of disapproval. When we all nodded in agreement, the fat Viking smiled, proud of himself.

 

I finally raised my head after a few seconds. Ruffnut had her arms crossed and was pointedly looking away from everyone. Fishlegs was tapping his fingers together and staring at Ruffnut. Tuffnut had his hands behind his neck, elbows sticking in the air, and was watching the forest intently. Snotlout slouched besides me, too uncomfortable to try and make everyone laugh or hit on me. I stood straight up and resumed looking at my boots, an enormous wave of guilt crashing down on me.

 

_How could I just leave Ruffnut in the dark like that?_

 

A loud, familiar call broke through the coiled atmosphere. We all looked up and towards the path, waiting expectantly for our teacher to come into view. It took a few seconds, but Gobber’s hulking form became clear as he made it halfway across the bridge that connected Berk to the training arena. He waved at us, showing us the keys, and then threw them into the air.

 

Snotlout jumped into action, backing up and catching the keys. He fumbled with them, nearly dropping them, and finally managed to get a good grasp on them with a sheepish smile on his face.

 

“You need to work on your catchin’ skills, Snotlout!” Gobber scolded when he reached the group a couple seconds later. “Nothin’ useful in a Viking that can’t retrieve anything.” He hobbled over to the Kill Ring’s gate, motioning with his hook that we needed to follow.

 

“Why do we have to do this right now?” Tuffnut complained. “I just want to sleep.”

 

“How much experience do you have with fightin’ at night?” Gobber asked, raising one half of his unibrow. He smirked when the male twin stayed silent in embarrassment.

 

The dragon-fighting expert turned his attention to all of us. “Today is about stealth!” He announced. “Sometimes, a dragon will have the upper hand in a battle. That’s when you switch tactics and launch a sneak attack to at _least_ distract it. You need to work as a team, fight like a team, and think like a team!” He instructed, knocking Snotlout (who was closest to him) in the head.

 

“Wait!” Snotlout said, shaking his head slightly. “How are we going to be stealthy in the Kill Ring? I mean, don’t those dragons know that they fight people when they’re let out?”

 

Gobber grinned knowingly, turned his back to us, and unlocked the gates of the arena and thrust them up in one swift motion. He motioned for us to stay quiet, and we cautiously crept into the Ring. Everyone gave a soft gasp.

 

The arena looked like…a forest. A bulky layer of leaves and branches was strewn everywhere, making the floor impossible to find. Boulders—obviously ones from the small mountain the Kill Ring was precariously located on—were littered on the ground and on top of each other. On top of that, tall, wooden, vertical boards were dotting the entire arena. Each was about as tall as I was and wide enough for Snotlout and Fishlegs to duck safely behind.

 

“Alright, you five!” Gobber called to us. I blinked in shock. How had he managed to get on the complete _opposite_ end of the Kill Ring without any of us noticing? “Ya better find yer cover quickly!” And then he took the handle from the Gronckle’s cage and began to push it down.

 

I gasped and looked back in forth. Right there, besides me, was a huge pile of foilage that had been built up next to one of the wooden beams. I dove into it, pushing the dead leaves on top of my body, and took in short, shallow breaths. I heard scattering around me, including the twins fighting over a fighting spot. Tuffnut shrieking in pain confirmed that Ruffnut had won. Snotlout called out that he’d forgotten his weapon, and I heard Fishlegs throw one of his knives (they were the only weapons he had on him today, so I knew that that’s what he threw) at him in an attempt to be helpful.

 

“ _Thanks_ , Fishlegs!” Snotlout cried out sarcastically.

 

“No problem!” Fishlegs’ voice cheerfully rose from somewhere to my northeast. I snickered.

 

_SNAP! Ka-chchchchchchch…._

 

_Bzzzzzzzzzzzz!_

 

I held my breath when the Gronckle crushed the doors open with its powerful body. Its wings were easy to hear, thank Odin, which made its location so much easier to find. But even so, the general lack of light, the conversation we’d just had without Gobber, and the fact that my head was completely covered in leaves made the situation not only difficult, but stressful.

 

I shifted in distress as Gobber shouted, “No direct hits! You must hit it as a group sneak-attack! Learn to locate where everyone is and communicate with each other without the dragon’s notice!”

 

I silently cursed. I couldn’t see anyone! I couldn’t see _anything!_

 

From what I could tell, the Gronckle was circling the Kill Ring like a hungry vulture. After reading the Dragon Manual, I knew that it had a good enough sense of smell to detect us—so that meant we needed to stay covered, to keep our scents hidden. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused, straining my ears to tell when the beast was the furthest away from me.

 

When the sound had faded as far as it would go a couple seconds later, I stealthily pushed the leaves slightly off of my body and crouched against the wooden board, gripping my axe until my knuckles felt like the skin was about to rip off of them. Across from me and a little to my right, Ruffnut was taking cover under a group of three stones—two were side-by-side, and one was on top, and she was situated inside the tiny cave. I tried to wave my hand at her, but she didn’t notice me.

 

Something bright lit up in my eye and I jumped. My eyes shot down to the source and my body relaxed; it was just the moonlight reflecting off of the sharp steel of my double-axe.

 

 _Wait a second!_ I realized. I pushed myself lower to the ground, stuck the side of my axe into the ground, and began to move it back and forth facing Ruffnut. As expected, a beam of light shot around the ground, illuminating tiny spots of leaves and twigs. I aimed the light at Ruffnut, who started just as I had.

 

When she figured out that it was _me_ screwing around with the arena’s lighting, she sent me a particularly evil look. I lowered the axe and mouthed, ‘I’m so sorry!’ I didn’t want to be in a fight with Ruffnut; she was far more stubborn than anyone else I knew, and could hold a grudge for a spectacularly long time. I didn’t want to deal with the drama of my life without my best friend.

 

Ruffnut’s harsh look fell. She mouthed something back to me, but the only thing I caught was ‘later’. I grinned in relief.

 

_BzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzz!_

 

I gasped and ducked, pulling my axe in towards my body. The Gronckle had come over to investigate the area between Ruffnut and myself, apparently having somehow sensed us. Had we been talking too loud?!

 

The bulky, beelike dragon studied the ground with comically large yellow-and-red eyes. Its gaze wasn’t going anywhere near Ruffnut or me. Directly under the monster, Ruffnut was looking off to my right, mouthing words at someone and glancing up every few seconds, the moon turning her eyes a milky blue. She then looked straight ahead and waved at someone with an irritated look on her face. The twin rolled her eyes in exasperation, checked the Gronckle’s position, and carefully began to slide her own single-bladed axe from her belt and in front of her. It _cling_ ed loudly when she accidentally hit it onto a boulder.

 

The dragon, which had been in the process of turning around, halted in its tracks. It turned its gigantic head towards Ruffnut’s hiding spot and sniffed warily. Its pupils became mere slits in surprise. I tensed when it began to slowly hover over to her, claws extending to dangerously long lengths.

 

My eyes searched for anything to help my friend. She had backed up inside the little boulder outlet, but the Gronckle could easily knock it down and crush her to death. I had to do something!

 

A gentle breeze swept through the arena. The leaves scattered slightly. A few to my direct left stayed in one spot, though. I stared at them, an idea surfacing. And then I figured out that they were connected to a gigantic tree branch.

 

My arm shot out and my fingers took a hold of it. I turned around and thrust the branch towards the Gronckle’s head, purposely missing just in front of it. The dragon squeaked in surprise and flew back a little. It watched the stick intently when it landed, probably wondering how it just up and appeared out of nowhere. Slowly, its buzzing faded, telling me that it had flown away to investigate.

 

I took the chance to roll across a short distance behind a boulder. My head whipped back and forth to search for anyone near me. Ruffnut’s hiding place was barely in sight, and I could see Tuffnut hiding behind a giant stone of his own to my right. He pointed at something behind his hiding spot, and even though I couldn’t see it, I knew that he was telling me that Snotlout and Fishlegs were over there.

 

 _Not good_ , I thought, _that means we’re spread out across the entire arena._

The steady hum of the Gronckle’s wings rose in intensity as it flew as high as it could. I scrambled for cover under the leaves when I heard the evil being growl loudly in frustration. It began to fly around much faster, making loud, gurgle-y noises.

 

My left eye twitched as light struck it. I leaned slightly away from the boulder to look at Ruffnut signaling me with her dagger. She moved it in a tight circle, positioned her hands at the edges of the invisible sphere, and then jutted her hands inwards, forming an upside-down ‘V’ with her skinny, pale fingertips. I nodded in understanding, waved at Tuffnut, and passed on the message.

 

The twin flipped over onto his hips, and using the same tactic as Ruffnut and myself, he reflected light back and forth at someone, scurrying to tell them the plan without the Gronckle’s notice. Halfway through signaling the remaining Viking of our group, both of us were forced to duck under the leaves and hold our breath when the Gronckle flew right over us, having seen Tuffnut’s moon-reflections.

 

_Snap! Shhhhhhhh…crunch!_

 

I smiled gratefully at Ruffnut, who’d thrown a small stone in the general direction of the eastern end of the Ring, which was off to her left and behind her. Apparently nobody was hiding there. But the Gronckle didn’t know this, and shot over to where it thought its prey had tripped. A snarl echoed across the area when it found nothing. Tuffnut began to laugh and had to cover his mouth while I furiously mouthed at him to shut the _hell_ up.

 

I flapped my wrist at Tuffnut in an attempt to tell him to hurry up and finish signaling. He smirked at me and rolled his eyes, waving a hand casually at me. I made a mental note to kick him later; I knew that throwing even a pebble at Tuffnut would alert the dragon of our whereabouts. Tempting as it was, I’d rather _not_ fail this lesson.

 

The Gronckle circled about us again, making us freeze on the spot. Tuffnut quickly buried his hands—the only things completely out in the open—beneath the leaves. We patiently waited for it to continue its fruitless search. Once it had moved away, flying to a large boulder to the east and sitting on top of it, Tuffnut finished telling Snotlout and Fishlegs, looked over his shoulder, and gave me a thumbs up.

 

I signaled Ruffnut with my axe and quickly hid it beneath the leaves, having realized that it might give us away if it continued to reflect the light anywhere without needing to. I gave her a thumbs up like Tuffnut had done and she nodded with a huge grin on her face. I held up ten fingers, waited for her to nod, and then turned around and sent the message to Tuffnut. As he passed it on through a series of hand motions and light reflections (that thoroughly confused the Gronckle, which had now assumed its circling), I picked up a moderately-sized rock in my hand and shot it in the middle of the arena. The monster was there in seconds.

 

I counted down in my head…

 

 _And, one!_ I thought, narrowing my eyes and grinning in determination.

 

Ruffnut and I leaped from our hiding places in a single, smooth movement at the same exact time. A second later, Fishlegs and Snotlout jumped out and Fishlegs lagged behind a moment too late.

 

We all screamed at the top of our lungs and charged the beast at once.

 

The Gronckle blinked several times, disoriented from the sudden loud noises. Even so, it desperately tried to fly up and away—and failed miserably. The beast spun around once and began to speed right towards me in its confusion, giving a low-pitched cry of fear. I gasped and leaped sideways, rolling sloppily to get out of the way.

 

 _Thunk!_ Someone smacked the dragon with _something_. It fell to the ground with a huge thud, moaning. I pushed myself to my feet and grabbed my axe, joining my friends in a tight circle around the Gronckle.

 

It rose to its feet on clumsy, oversized feet and snarled at us. Fishlegs, the one closest to it, backed up a bit. Even though it was one of the smallest of the dragon species, its head was still towering over all of ours. The sharp teeth hanging out of its mouth glistened dangerously, and then a hissing noise rose up inside the creature’s throat.

 

“ _DUCK!_ ” I screamed, jumping away just as the Gronckle fired. But I realized it hadn’t gone after me when not a single flaming ball went my way.

 

My heart plummeted when I heard Ruffnut scream and something explode.

 

I flipped over on my back, a horrified expression on my face while the beast took to the air and fired another fireball—this time, at Fishlegs, who screamed and ran for any cover he could find. Snotlout and Tuffnut shouted something at each other, Tuffnut holding a hammer and Snotlout a knife. The male twin was standing over something. Something that was very, _very_ still.

 

I gasped, narrowed my eyes, and slowly rose to my feet, head bent down. My hand clenched around my axe. “You’ve just made a big mistake,” I murmured darkly.

 

I snapped my head up and sprinted towards the Gronckle, screaming my lungs out. It abruptly stopped in its attack and twisted around midair. The thing gurgled uselessly at seeing me—I could even see my reflection in its pupils—and then I hit it straight in the face with my axe. A long, bloody cut formed from its ear to lower jaw and instantly began to bleed like a waterfall, but I didn’t care. I hit is with the blunt side of my axe, snapping its head around and forcing it to fly away, and ran next to Tuffnut and crouched menacingly. I wasn’t about to let Ruffnut get hurt any more!

 

“Hey…guys…I’m not hurt too bad…”

 

Tuffnut and I jumped and swiveled around. Ruffnut was pushing herself up into a sitting position, squeezing her eyes shut and groaning. He head swung to the left and right and her body followed her movements like a snake. The entire time, she cringed and pushed her hands against her side. I ran to her and forced them away, ignoring her hissed protests. I gasped.

 

There was a long slice along her side going from her ribs all the way down to her hips. The wound was slowly seeping blood. I instantly pressed Ruffnut’s hand against it again and turned my eyes up at her. I knew that my face was pale and that my pupils were smaller than normal with worry. Ruffnut just gave me a weak grin.

 

“I blocked the blast with my axe. It kinda exploded and a piece slashed across me,” she explained shakily. Obviously, the girl was in major pain, but she seemed more _excited_ than anything else. “I’m definitely getting a good battle scar from this!” She wheezed.

 

The Gronckle screeched behind me. Ruffnut looked up with a frown and I glanced over my shoulder. Snotlout was wildly swinging at the demon with his knife, Fishlegs right besides him with his hammer. The double effort was working splendidly; Snotlout was moving in to cut at the dragon, and Fishlegs was making as much noise as he could. That didn’t stop the dragon from suddenly spitting two fireballs, leaving only two left. Both nimbly dodged it, and I swiveled my head around to Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

 

“C’mon, let’s get you out of here!” Tuffnut demanded, pushing his sister’s arm over his shoulder and walking her away. “Astrid, I got her, you help the other two!” At my hesitation, he roughly shoved me. “ _Now!_ ” He ordered.

 

“I don’t need help! I can still fight!” Ruffnut growled, trying to push her way out of Tuffnut’s grip. Neither of us paid her any mind; I was too busy gaping at Tuffnut’s rare act of maturity, and he was too busy being an overprotective brother. I shut my mouth and nodded.

 

“Don’ let her get hurt any more!” I warned him.

 

Tuffnut scoffed. “You’re telling _me_ that?”

 

I smiled at him. He weakly returned it and began to help Ruffnut to the opposite end of the arena, towards the gate, where Gobber was standing.

 

Gobber grabbed her, concern on his face, and helped her sit down. I watched helplessly as he pulled a piece of cloth out and wrapped it around the wound. Then Gobber ordered Tuffnut to get back out in the ring, and Tuffnut outright refused him. Eventually, after a short, heated discussion, Gobber gave up, running a hand over his face and shaking his head.

 

I spun on my heel, determined. No dragon was going to hurt my best friend _that_ badly and get away with it.

 

The Gronckle was hovering over Snotlout and Fishlegs, trying to get a clear shot at them. They would constantly duck behind a boulder or wooden beam, though, ruining its so-called perfect chances at getting them. Not only did it completely frustrate it, but it absorbed all of its attention.

 

I ran to the wall of the arena and hugged it, crouching in the shadows and swiftly making my way over to the fight. Fishlegs noticed me and realization seemed to dawn on him; he barked a warning at Snotlout, and the two pumped their distracting acts to the extreme. I hid in the shadows, only a few meters away from the Gronckle, coiled up like a panther waiting to pounce.

 

The Gronckle’s disorientation hit its peak when Snotlout and Fishlegs began to shout at the top of their lungs, stomping their feet and hitting anything within reaching distance. Once again, the dragon crashed to the ground and stood up shakily, desperately trying to get a good hold on its surroundings.

 

I let out a battle cry and sprinted at the devil, axe raised above my head, prepared to strike. The Gronckle perked up at my voice, and two wide, fear-filled eyes met mine. I showed no mercy, swinging the axe down…just as the normally-clutzy dragon leaped back. I used my momentum and pushed my axe sideways, banging the Gronckle in the temple with the blunt side of my axe. Snotlout leaped in front of it when it bolted away and hit its wing with his hammer. Immediately, the Gronckle swerved back towards me, letting out an agonized shriek.

 

I hit it again in the same spot with a loud grunt, also with the blunt end. The beast’s legs and wings turned limp, and the fight was over; it slumped to the ground and moaned weakly. The only sign of life it gave was its weakly-fluttering eyes staring up at Snotlout, Fishlegs, and me as we surrounded it. I spat on the ground in front of it, disgust written clearly across my face and body language.

 

“Alright, you three! We’re done here.” Gobber shouted to us. We all backed away from the Gronckle, eyeing it evilly, and made our way over to the twins and our teacher. Ruffnut was as white as the moon and was sweating. Her eyes were shut and she was leaning her head on Tuffnut’s shoulder, who was gently rubbing her back and biting his lip worriedly.

 

“Is she going to be alright?” I asked Gobber fearfully.

 

He nodded. “It’s deep, yeh, but she’s strong. Ye might want to get a doctor to check it out, though.” He added to Tuffnut.

 

“How bad is it?” Fishlegs anxiously spoke up.

 

Ruffnut’s eyes slowly opened. She grinned at us. “It’s fine,” she rasped, sucking in a deep breath before continuing, “just a little scratch.”

 

“I think we should take her to the village,” Snotlout said uncertainly. He suddenly changed subjects and beamed at me. “You were amazing, by the way!”

 

I bared my teeth at him. “How can you say that when Ruffnut’s hurt like that?!”

 

The teen held his hands up at me, palms up. “I just wanted to cheer you up!” He defended himself. I just shook my head.

 

“Snotlout’s right,” Gobber said, limping his way over to Ruffnut. He gently grabbed her arm and hoisted her to her feet. She swayed slightly and bit back a cry of pain, holding her injured side tenderly. Tuffnut was at her side in an instant, ready to help her. She scowled and uselessly pushed her unbending brother away. I felt my respect for him go up by a _lot._

 

“Tuffnut, hold onto her while you walk back,” our instructor told us. “Fishlegs, if she can’t walk, carry her back. Snotlout, Astrid, you two make sure _nothing_ happens. I need to put the Gronckle back and lock up the arena, but I’ll catch up with you five.” He turned and began to trek hurriedly into the Kill Ring.

 

We hadn’t made it five seconds out of the arena before Gobber spoke up again. “Oh! And Astrid,” he gave me a bright smile. “Nice work out there, las. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the ye’ve fought against somethin’ like a Monstrous Nightmare in the past.” I gaped at him, blushed, and nodded in thanks. Gobber returned to his work, and so did we.

 

“Told you so,” Snotlout bragged to me. My mind was elsewhere.

 

Sure, I hadn’t fought a Monstrous Nightmare before. But I _had_ beaten a Night Fury in a fight.

 

I sighed and forced myself to focus. Right now, my job was to protect my best friend from getting hurt any more.

 

* * *

I shifted my weight slightly, trying to get the blood in my legs to circulate properly again. Even though the whole incident had come and gone hours ago, my heart was still thumping a mile a minute, my breathing was ragged, and my body was involuntarily shaking.

 

I glared down at the fish basket. It looked so innocent, how finely woven it was, with its simple painting of a sea serpent, how small it looked to me as a dragon. “This is all your fault,” I growled at it.

 

The only response the sleeping wilderness gave me was the wind gently breezing past, moving the leaves around me and scattering anything on the ground. My ears pricked when I thought I heard something yell, but after straining my hearing towards the sound, I decided that it was just a trick of the mind, a psychological defense to keep me on guard.

 

The giant tree I was perched on swayed and moaned more than the others due to my sitting on it. I crouched low and dug my claws into it, desperately trying to stay on the branch. The fish basket hung above me on another sturdy stem—I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hold it while sitting in the tall plant, so I’d taken the wildcat route and just put it a little bit above me for safety.

 

Wings folded up against my body and tail hanging straight down, I could easily be mistaken for a broken tree limb in the darkness. I was suddenly grateful for the color of my scales and eyes; from what I could tell from my reflections in the lake of the cove, I was covered in dark brown scales that matched the color of tree trunks perfectly. And, lucky me, my eyes were the color of evergreen leaves—the most popular kind of tree in Berk’s forests during the winter and summer. I blended right in.

 

“At least that means nobody will find me now,” I sighed. “Looks like I’ve found an advantage to my dragon body. Among other things…” I stared up through the leaves at the star-dotted sky, watching mournfully as a comet flew past my vision and onto the horizon, dipping out of sight just under the moon.

 

I’d been _so close_. Everything had gone perfectly. And then I had to go and stall a little. Now, Snotlout and Astrid have probably told the entire village about my little thievery. I’m pretty sure the gods—no, the _universe_ hates me now. Whatever chances I had at redemption, and, possibly, regaining my father’s love—all of it was now gone. They thought I was a traitor. Just another dragon that didn’t have morals, thoughts, or feelings.

 

I hung my head and took a deep breath. Closing my eyes, I uselessly made a wish onto the shooting star that I’d just seen. Maybe it was a lonesome god that was just waiting for some faith to be put into it. Maybe it was just a star. I didn’t know. But then again, I didn’t know that much at all anymore. Right now, all I wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and go to sleep.

 

But I didn’t want to risk a hunting party catching sight of me, even with my camouflage. Then I’d doom Toothless, too. After all that the two of us had been through, I didn’t want him to die a painful and merciless death. He was a very unhappy, confused person—from the way he talked and moved, it was like he’d never had anyone he could really trust. Before this whole wonderful adventure, he probably had been even lonelier than me.

 

 _Toothless_ , I thought to myself. _In our last conversation, I promised you that I’d be back in a couple hours at the most. You tried to hide it, but you were_ **so** _scared that I would never come back. Now it’s almost morning…you must be so upset._ I dropped my head even further in shame. _I hope you understand the need to wait._

The leaves around me rustled loudly. I slowly opened my eyes and raised my head. From the look of the moon, there were only a few hours left before the sun began to rise. I figured that, around this time, most hunting parties would be put on hold until the morning. Hopefully, that would give me enough time to explain to my draconic friend the situation. We’d either have to find a _really_ good hiding spot in the cove, or somehow figure out a way to get Toothless out of there. Then, I’d try to figure out a way to redeem myself to the villagers of Berk.

 

Nodding in approval of my decision, I raised my tail, crouched low, and spread my wings halfway. Then, with one strong flap, I jumped on top of the branch directly on top of me—the same one the fish basket was hanging on by the little ring at the top. I vaguely wondered how in the world I would manage to flip the latch on the cover open later, but pushed that to the back of my mind. If worse came to wear, I’d just pop it open with my teeth and take the sting of it like a man.

 

I inched towards the fish basket, not realizing how much of an idiot I was being as I got closer and closer to the thin part of the branch.

 

But I found out _real_ _quick_.

 

The tree limb suddenly separated from its parent with a quick, loud _SNAP!_ I shrieked liked a banshee when I was suddenly falling in the air with nothing underneath me. For a second, my instincts demanded that I spread my wings and rise up. But then I remembered the container that I’d given up everything for.

 

I dove and grabbed the basket with my front paws, spreading my wings and swooping up at the last second. My body halted midair and I flapped several times, managing to hover for a second until I dropped to the earth. I sent the tree branch, still connected to the metal hoop on the basket, the most evil look I could muster.

 

Leaning down, I gripped it in my teeth and slid the basket off of the end. Then I turned around and flung it at the nearest trunk extra-hard.

 

A smile of satisfaction spread across my maw when the branch promptly shattered. Twisting around, I picked up the basket with half-sheathed teeth and began to walk at a moderate pace towards the cove, slowly rehearsing to myself what I would say to Toothless.

 

The moon was hard to see from here, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have an affect on the forest path I was taking. Instead of being completely dark, the thin leaves of the coniferous trees allowed the moonlight to go right through them, leaving beams of pale, mint-green light littered across the ground. The shadows of the woods were intensified and the lights were soft. It felt like I was walking through a dreamscape.

 

An owl hooted above me, causing me to jump a little. I looked up at the creature, locking my eyes on its own yellow orbs. It took flight and swooped over me, heading in the direction towards Berk. I frowned a little and then shrugged it off, telling myself that I was being paranoid.

 

I spent the rest of the short trip to the cove mumbling to myself, solidifying my reasons for taking so long and my worries. And even though I was well-prepared (in my opinion), my body still began to tense as I reached the cove.

 

Toothless was going to _kill_ me. How ironic, that I’d go through all of this only to meet my demise at a hungry, bi-polar Night Fury’s worried anger! I smiled at the thought, easing a little bit of the tension in the air that only I could feel.

 

When I finally reached the cove, I looked over the edge first, perking my ears. The lake was still—so still. It looked like a mirror more than anything else, like someone had gone and taken a patch of the night sky and planted it right there in the center of my recent home. The trees, both those that were gathered in a corner of the cove and the random ones dotting the landscape, looked like silent, judging giants.

 

I couldn’t see Toothless anywhere.

 

Pushing off the ground, I snapped my wings open and glided down towards the ‘forested’ area of the cove. For some absurd reason, Toothless thought it was a good idea to hang upside-down from tree branches. Maybe he was already asleep?

 

When I didn’t see his pitch-black form hanging around anywhere, I tilted my head in confusion. I sniffed the air, trying to pick up his scent. It was here, but it was…dry, rusty, dull. _Oh_ , I realized, _he hasn’t been here in awhile._

I dropped my head a little and walked a couple steps ahead, trying to see if I could actually follow his scent to his position. I’d seen dragons do that to find people and sheep during dragon raids, so why couldn’t I?

 

Crouching low and nose inches from the ground, I followed the old scent-path through the trees, ear involuntarily pricking when it became more vivid and pronounced. I rounded around the lake and looked up, searching for my friend in confusion. I was in the area across from the broken wall. Where could Toothless be?

 

Then I saw a large, black lump that seemed to be reflecting light, hidden in a small crack in the wall. I kicked the ground up with my feet and ran over to him, happy to see him for no reason other than that he was _there_. I dropped the basket and stopped just outside of the crag once I got there.

 

“Toothless!” I happily called. There was no response.

 

I blinked, straining my vision…and then I felt my body grow fire-hot with mortification when I realized that I’d been talking to a shadow. The ‘light reflections’ that I had mistaken for Toothless’ scales were just pieces of stone that were facing the moon. I sighed, turned, and picked up the basket. As I lifted my eyes while still leaning down, I noticed something that I hadn’t been able to see earlier.

 

Beneath a solitary tree resting besides the lake, hiding within its roots growing above the earth, was a dark, Toothless-sized… _thing_. I hadn’t seen it when I’d been looking down on the cove because it had, from my perspective, been _behind_ the tree and out of sight.

 

I trotted swiftly over there, double-checking that it really _was_ my dragon friend. When I had confirmed that it was the elusive, hot-tempered Night Fury, a huge grin grew across my face. I quietly went towards him, playing with the idea of startling him awake with a prank—and then I paused when I took notice of his body positioning.

 

Toothless was folded in on himself, wings folded tightly against his back. His head was lying directly on the ground, his two gigantic paws brought slightly over his nose. The dragon’s tail covered part his face, pressing against his body and covering his left cheek and forehead with his single extended tailfin. Ears flat against his neck, eyebrows pulled down, and eyes squeezed shut, he looked as if he was having some terrible nightmare. The fact that Toothless’ face was wrinkled slightly didn’t help at all. In general, he looked like he’d just plopped onto the ground and hadn’t even cared that he’d been in such an uncomfortable position.

 

A wave of guilt rammed into me hard enough to greedily knock my breath away.

 

_Thud._

The container fell to the ground.

 

“Toothless?” My voice was soft and unsure. I leaned down and nudged his cheek with my left paw. His eyes shut themselves even tighter, but other than that, he didn’t move. I called out the Night Fury’s name again, this time a little louder.

 

Toothless’ eyelids didn’t snap open, but they certainly didn’t gradually come up. They opened as if he’d just been blinking slowly, like when you’re sleepy and close your eyes for a second too long. It took a short moment for his confused lime-green eyes to take in the area and, of course, myself. I grinned sheepishly at him, laughing a little bit. Every witty, sarcastic “I’m back!” comment I’d come up with died on my lips—it felt almost _cruel_ to say any of them.

 

“H-hi, Toothless. Uh, I’m sorry it took so long…funny story, heh…” I shuffled slightly on my feet when Toothless sat up with an unreadable expression. His wide pupils (when had they ever been _that_ big?) didn’t drop to the fish basket besides me at all. He just looked at me like he couldn’t believe I was there, mouth slightly open, ears standing straight up, brows pulled down onto his eyes.

 

I frowned worriedly. “Toothless, are you okay? You look really— _EEP!_ ”

 

I yelped when the dragon suddenly charged into me and tackled me to the ground, causing me fall flat on my back, wings and tail bent at awkward angles. Toothless’ paws cornered my face to the grass and his legs were on both sides of my hips, completely cutting me off from squirming away. He rubbed his face against mine and purred loud enough for me to hear without actually touching him…something that I didn’t know he - _we_ \- were capable of. I gaped at the sudden act of affection, legs hanging uselessly in the air and eyes wide.

 

After a few seconds of awkward dragon-hugs, Toothless raised his head and stared down at me. He sat still for a second and then jumped off and away from me, looking over his shoulder to glare at me. His eyes looked sickly yellow in the moonlight. I rolled over and sat up, stunned by the mood swings.

 

“Woah, what—“ I began.

 

“ _Where_ in the name of the Dragoness of the Moon have you _been?!_ ” Toothless screeched, eyes quickly becoming the slits I had been accustomed to. He stormed over to me and pushed his face right into mine. “You left _hours_ ago! You said you wouldn’t be gone too long! I thought—“ He abruptly cut himself off and turned away from me, chin facing down, a shadow falling across his entire face. I cringed.

 

“Toothless, I’m _so_ sorry. Something happened…I saw Astrid and Snotlout!” I hurriedly explained to the hunched-over Night Fury.

 

He gave me a sidelong glare. “So you just decided to go off and frolic with them? I hope you had fun. Did you only come back here because you felt _obliged_ to do so?” He pointed at the fish basket with his nose. Then he turned his back to me and sat down, shoulders jutting up at harsh angles and wings splayed uselessly onto the ground. His ears drooped down past his cheekbones as he murmured, “I knew you wouldn’t want to come back.”

 

I shook my head. Then, realizing he couldn’t see me, I said, “Toothless, no. It’s _nothing_ like that.” I moved over to him, leaning down to his eye level about a foot away from him and holding my gaze—even though he was stubbornly staring at the ground. Sighing, I reached out and lifted his chin with one of my not-very-flexible-at-all fingers and forced him to look at me. The Night Fury narrowed his eyes and the middle of his face folded darkly; hurt flared through his every movement. I smiled grimly. “They attacked me.”

 

Halfway through the sentence, my voice cracked with emotion, and I felt my face mirror Toothless’ own. I dropped my paw and sat back with a forlorn sigh, eyelids falling halfway.

 

In the immediate quiet afterwards, the harsh look slowly warped off of Toothless’ face. He watched me silently in…pity? I internally cringed; I didn’t _want_ pity. I just wanted this day to be over. And I wanted Toothless to believe that I wouldn’t betray him…

 

I looked at my feet. “You thought I’d left you?” I whispered. “Is your faith in me that little?”

 

Toothless took in a deep breath. “I-I,” he stuttered, something so unusual for him that I raised my head. Toothless’ face was creased and he had his eyes locked on something off to his right that I couldn’t see. It took me a few seconds—but I realized that he was staring at the moon. The dragon deflated, giving me a somewhat desperate look momentarily. He wanted me to figure something out on my own, but since I hadn’t really gotten Dragon Body Language 101 down yet, I had no idea what he was trying to tell me.

 

“What is it?” I asked, bewildered by his odd behavior. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach…

 

Toothless shook his head, stopped, and seemed to reconsider himself. He brought his gaze to mine, temporarily allowing our link to reform. But I didn’t pay that any attention; because, as he did this, he also told me the reason why he’d been acting this way:

 

“I was scared.”

 

My jaw dropped. _Toothless_ was _scared?_

Despite the situation, I felt flattered. And I hated it; that’s like saying that I was happy that he was so distressed to actually _tell_ me. Toothless _never_ talks about his emotions.

 

He took my silence the wrong way, standing up and walking towards the lake and away from me. “Fine. Sit there and laugh!” He snarled venomously. “It’s not like I actually thought you cared. Apparently not. No, not at all,” he whispered. The Night Fury’s voice shook, betraying his harsh words.

 

“No!” I cried, jumping into a jog to catch up with him. “It’s nothing like that!” He didn’t run away from me, but he definitely wasn’t letting me get too close to him. Whenever I’d step near him, he’d turn his back to me. He ignored my protests no matter how many times I said them.

 

Eventually, I just got annoyed. Sure, I’d been gone for a lot longer than I said I would. But Toothless was making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

After the _millionth_ consecutive treatment of the cold shoulder, I snapped. I took one bounding leap, stretched my wings midair, and sailed right over him. Spinning midair and folding my wings in, I dropped directly in front of Toothless.

 

Pushing my forehead against his, I screamed, “ _I wasn’t betraying you!_ ” At Toothless’ immediate angry look, I growled, “No! Stop it!”

 

Surprisingly, he did just that, snapping away from me and replacing his hurt expression with a strategically blank one. He watched me emotionlessly, as if he were daring me to say the exact opposite of what he wanted.

 

“Look,” I breathed, trying to calm myself. I sat down in front of him, bringing me to his eye level. “I was in there, and everything was going fine, but then I got caught by Astrid and Snotlout. Snotlout attacked me and I guess Astrid guarded the exit, so I ran out of there as quick as I could. But I had to knock down Snotlout first, and that really got him angry…” I explained, lowering my head. “As I was flying away, I heard him tell Astrid that they had to tell the others about me, so I hid in the forest until a couple minutes ago to make sure they didn’t come back here and find you.” I raised my gaze and gave him an even look. “I’m _really_ sorry about making you worry like that. But, _gods_ , Toothless, you’re _really_ being a baby right now! What did you expect me to do after the girl I’ve been attracted to all my life and my own cousin turn around and attack me without even asking? _Of course_ I hid! And I did that because I was worried about _you!_ ”

 

The Night Fury blinked several times. Then, Toothless looked at his feet. He was silent for a several long, tense, betrayed, broken moments.

 

“You _know_ I wouldn’t do that,” I seethed, too lost in my own hurt to see the affect I was having on him, how every word made him sink lower to the ground. “You _know._ Why would…” I trailed off, shaking my head.

 

Toothless took a sharp intake of air, his eyes slitting even further. He looked at me with an awed expression—the unfortunate kind, when you can’t believe that something had happened to you, when you think that what happened to you should be illegal. Then, abruptly, he dropped to the ground in front of me, one side flat on the ground and head half-buried by his paws that were stretched out in front of his head. I blinked in bewilderment and quickly tiptoed around to face him.

 

 _Had he really had that much of a rough time?_ I thought in disbelief.

 

Toothless seemed to have read my thoughts, since he looked up at me and quietly told me, “I spent the majority of what was left of the day trying to climb out. I thought that you’d been captured or injured. But I began to doubt, and then I thought that you might have left me…I stopped trying then.” He sighed while I lay down next to him with a soft grunt.

 

“I understand. I know I was being immature. It’s just…” his voice dropped to below a whisper and he stared at his outstretched arms. “I thought I was alone again.”

 

I honestly didn’t know what to say to this. Toothless was completely opening up to me for the first time.

 

It saddened me that _I_ was the only person he’d ever felt able to talk honestly to; why else would he say that he was ‘alone’? And what did he mean by ‘again’? We’d known each other for barely a week, and yet both of us were attached to each other like glue.

 

Maybe we weren’t all that different. _(Pop in another puzzle piece.)_

 

After a few seconds, I scooted closer to him until our sides were touching and rested my head on the ground next to his. “You’re not alone.”  I looked straight into his troubled eyes. “You know I would _never_ leave and not come back like that. Right?” He hesitated, and slowly nodded. “And you understand why it took me so long, right?” I asked softly. Toothless nodded again. “Then you have nothing to worry about.”

 

The worried dragon attempted a small smile. “Alright.”

 

We lapsed into silence. Toothless twisted around and rested his chin on his paws with closed eyes, though he clearly was awake by how he would twitch his ear up towards me or shift his weight.

 

Although it wasn’t too uncomfortable, I spoke up anyways. “Hey, want to—“ A yawn cut me off midsentence, causing me to pause for several seconds. My jaw stretched wide and I let out a tiny squeak. I blinked several times at the tears that flooded my vision.

 

“How about we sleep?” Toothless tiredly suggested. He cracked open an eye—one that was much more dull than usual—and gave me an almost pleading look.

 

I silently nodded, lowering my head onto my own arms. I tilted my head to the side, cheek pressed up against my leg, to observe the Night Fury. He was looking at me with barely-open eyes, exhaustion swirling inside of them.

 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. Then I shut my eyes, staring into the darkness.

 

“…Hiccup?”

 

I raised my eyelids a little, perking my ears. “Yeah?”

 

“I’m sorry, too.”

 

_(and add another)_

 

* * *

 

You know how sometimes you’ll wake up, but not really? You’ll still be in your dream, but you’re completely conscious and aware of your surroundings, but unable to actually process them, like you’re a bystander watching from afar?

 

Unfortunately, the couple hours I had of sleep were _only_ like that. I suppose it was a good thing, in case someone tried to sneak up on Toothless and myself, but still. A growing teenager needs his sleep!

 

I groaned something incomprehensible when Toothless shifted besides me. I knew he was awake and _very_ irritated with my sleeping choice. Sometime, during the night, I’d managed to crawl _under_ one of his legs and rest my chin on the other, wrapping my arms around it. While it was probably very cute…Toothless really did seem annoyed and I was pretty sure I only had a few minutes of ‘sleep’ left until he finally got fed up with me and stood up. But hey, in my defense, autumn and winter nights in Berk are _freezing!_

 

“I _know_ you’re awake.” Toothless’ voice was loud and perfectly clear above me. I attempted to look more asleep, voluntarily evening out my breathing and relaxing my facial muscles. My friend didn’t notice it. “I already told you, _I don’t cuddle!_ ”

 

I cracked an eye open while Toothless lifted the leg I had situated myself under. “It was really cold last night,” I yawned. After a second, I added as an afterthought, “You know you like it.”

 

Toothless barked a sarcastic laugh and rose to his feet, forcing me to plop to the ground. I watched him as he shook his body violently and stretched, flapping his wings several times to get any kinks out of the delicate muscles. I contented myself with closing my eyes and—hopefully—trying to go back to sleep. From the few seconds my eyes were actually focused, I could tell that Toothless, as always, had woken up _super-early_. Again.

 

If he expected me to follow his sleeping habits, he was crazy.

 

But then again, he may have woken up because he couldn’t sleep. Like me. I groaned, unwillingly opening my eyes and raising my head. Toothless was currently running his thick tongue over his paw and the pushing it over his face, knocking dead scales off and polishing the new ones. I watched him for a second, perplexed, and then stared at the ground.

 

“Toothless?” I asked, raising my gaze. He stopped mid-lick, glanced up at me, and slowly finished pushing his paw over his head before setting it on the ground.

 

“Yes?” He murmured as he shifted his weight until it was centered. I sat up, assuming the same position.

 

I took a second to collect my thoughts. Then, I asked, “Are…are we okay?” I lowered my eyes, unwilling to look Toothless in the face. I felt my brows lower over my face.

 

I waited in silence.

 

The grass swished when the beast walked close to me, stopping only a few feet away. “We are,” he softly confirmed. “It was just a big misunderstanding. Holding a grudge won’t help at all.”

 

I raised my head, staring into his eyes. At the truth behind them, I felt a real, genuine grin spread across my lips. Toothless hesitantly returned it.

 

We stared at each other for a couple more moments. Then it just got awkward, and Toothless began to resume his dragon-made bath. I slumped back to the ground, mostly out of relief than anything, and closed my eyes. We had nothing else to say to each other; we’d somehow already spoken it.

 

I don’t know how long we were like that, comfortable in the quiet. I drifted in and out of sleep, unaware of my surroundings until Toothless eventually got tired of it and woke me up.

 

 _Thump._ “Hiccup, what is this _thing?_ ”

 

I forced myself to open my eyes, slightly startled to see that the sun was up. Usually, Toothless would give me some dorky nickname and stick to it for about one sentence. I knew he was trying to reconnect with me, since our bond had seemed to have been ripped apart and stitched together with strings.

 

But we’d just told each other that everything was alright, hadn’t we? Didn’t that fix it?

 

I raised my head, glancing between the fish basket and Toothless’ inquisitive face. He was sitting next to me, the container sitting upright by his right paw. After a few seconds, his head tipped far to the side and he nudged the basket. It wobbled and fell in slow-motion, landing on Toothless’ foot.

 

“ _Ick!_ ” He cried, jumping up and arching his back, glaring suspiciously at the basket. “It _touched_ me! There’s something in it!” He turned slitted eyes on me, giving me the most expectant look in the world.

 

 _Well, it’s was fixed_ , I decided, _considering he trusts me again_. I felt myself relax.

 

I grunted and sat up. My muscles felt _very_ sore—probably from all the practicing I had done yesterday. And, of course, being chased out of the storage house.

 

“That’s what I brought back,” I mumbled, dropping my head low enough to rub my eyes with my left paw.

 

“Yeah, I figured that out already,” Toothless grunted sarcastically. “But why didn’t you bring back _food?_ ”

 

I smirked at his…innocence. (Who would’ve thought that I’d describe a _Night Fury_ of all things as _innocent?_ ) The way he shot daggers at the harmless piece of woven wood, slowly backing away from it and unsheathing his teeth—it was too much. I burst out laughing. My mirth only intensified when Toothless gave me one of the evilest looks he could voluntarily muster.

 

Between giggles, I gasped, “It _is_ our food, silly!” I doubled over when, instead of giving me a dirty look, Toothless’ mouth dropped open. He gaped at me and the basket, unable to wrap his mind around the concept that something was _inside_ the container and that I had no intentions of eating the wooden part.

 

I was on my back, rolling in the grass and watching Toothless upside-down, when he gathered up enough courage to go back to the basket. He sniffed it warily. The dragon’s head reared back, eyes slitting slightly and ears shooting straight up and lifting a paw a little into the air. He tipped his head back and forth, making sure to fully examine our dinner, going over every inch of it with his nose and giving it an occasional nudge.

 

Toothless had already sunk his teeth into the wood before I’d had any time to react. He held the basket down with both paws and thrust his head up, ripping the wooden basket to shreds. The remainder of it that had not been bitten off quickly turned to limp, useless tendrils. My friend showed no remorse in attacking them anyways, cheerily tearing the remains to itty-bitty woodchips. He completely ignored the _gigantic_ pile of fish that had been sitting inside the basket and was now spilt across the ground, content in his plagiarism.

 

I stood there, open-mouthed, frozen in shock. Quickly getting over it, I flipped over to my belly and leaped to my feet. “ _TOOTHLESS!_ ” I cried. He stopped abruptly, pieces of wood falling from his mouth. “What are you _doing?!_ Those take _forever_ to make!” I ran over to where the basket once stood, sullenly pushing the twigs and stems into a tiny, misshapen pile. The only thing that remained intact was the lid, and the only reason _that_ had survived was probably because Toothless hadn’t wanted to chew on the metal.

 

I thought I saw a wicked smile flit across his face, but probably imagined it.

 

“Huh?” His voice was thoroughly confused. “It’s not a game?”

 

“How in the name of _Thor_ could you possibly think that you were supposed to rip it to shreds?” I whined. “That was made so you could _carry_ stuff around! And now look what you’ve done!”

 

Toothless shrugged large, muscular shoulders. “Sometimes, when dragons want to encourage their young to develop strong jaw muscles and fire-aiming, they would encase some food in a hallow stone and then put a weak magic spell on it. It could easily be broken by an adult, but to a little one, it was a challenge. A _fun_ one, at that! Sometimes, we’d have contests to see who would break their stone the fastest.” He grinned, eyes slightly dazed over at a pleasant memory.

 

I raised a brow. “That seems kind of abusive.”

 

It was Toothless’ turn to laugh. He walked over to me and patted me on the shoulder with his wing in a “there, there” fashion. “That’s coming from someone whose culture is _centered_ on killing.”

 

“We’re Vikings,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

 

“That’s no excuse,” Toothless countered evenly.

 

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Dragons are _weird,_ ” I declared.

 

Toothless _tch_ -ed. “That makes no sense. You _are_ a dragon.”

 

I paused, frowning. “But I’m still human, sort of,” I defended weakly. “In the mind.”

 

Toothless, who had been walking away from me towards the pile of fish, tail dragging on the ground and ears lowered, looked over his shoulder with wide pupils. He had a thick frown plastered across his face and his eyebrows were slightly raised. I flinched under the gaze, refusing to deal with the certain parts of my mind that were telling me I was _dead-wrong._ I didn’t want to think about that; not here, not now, not after yesterday and last night. And I knew that that was exactly what he was thinking about.

 

So I pushed it aside, got up, and joined Toothless at the pile of fish. “Promise not to rip these apart?” I asked, cutting off whatever he was going to say.

 

Giving me an annoyed look, like that of a parent that was about to scold their child but ended up distracted, my friend moved his massive head towards the pile of fish and sniffed them. After a few seconds, he said, “They’re a little stale.”

 

I scoffed. “No, they’re not! I watched some people put them in the storage house straight from a fishing boat. They can’t be more than a day old.”

 

Toothless turned his head at me, looking at me like I was crazy. He shifted through the large pile, and, after a few seconds, picked out something that seemed to pass his regulations. “I prefer my fish fresh, myself. Tastes less…rotten.” It did not amuse me that, as he was saying this, Toothless leaned down and bit the fish, tilted his head up, _and swallowed it whole_.

 

I gasped, five seconds away from tackling his chest in an attempt to stop him from choking. But the dragon just turned to me and tilted his head to the side, most likely wondering why I looked like I’d just seen a ghost. I laughed nervously, not having expected for a dragon with a mouth _full of teeth_ to not even bother chewing. I mean, was it really that hard?

 

“…Are you alright?” Toothless asked me cautiously. I nodded, still giving him a strange look. Shrugging it off, Toothless continued, “Well, I’m waiting.”

 

“Waiting for what?” My brows scrunched together in confusion and I felt one ear raise slightly higher than the other.

 

“Pick your fish!” Toothless commanded, as if it was completely obvious. His impatient look only deepened when I only gave the pile a blank look and returned my eyes to him. Realization flashed across Toothless’ face, to my relief. “Oh, wait, you probably won’t be able to digest this,” he mumbled to himself, staring at the pile thoughtfully. “You haven’t eaten once…it’ll put you in shock…”

 

 _Oh, good, he’s figured out that humans don’t eat fish raw_ , I thought, not quite registering his last comment. _Maybe he’ll start a fire somewhere so I can cook the—wait. What the—is he choki—what is he doing?!_

 

I felt my entire body rattle up when Toothless began to heave, his throat bulging and moving up and down slightly. His eyes were half closed, looking up, completely blank. I jumped over to him, raised myself on my hind legs, and slapped him right in the middle of his back. Toothless gasped, and the head, spine, some desperate internal organs and fishmeat slid to the ground from his huge, pink tongue. I breathed a sigh of relief, dropping back to all fours. I didn’t notice the deathly look the Night Fury was giving me.

 

“I knew you were going to choke!” I rubbed my eyes with a paw. “That’s what you get for swallowing that thing whole!”

 

“…I wasn’t choking.” Toothless said slowly with a half-amused tone. “Thanks for hitting me, by the way.”

 

I ignored his sarcastic comment, straightened up in my seated position. “What do you mean you weren’t choking?” I questioned. “Why’d you want to spit up what you just ate?”

 

Toothless gave me a pointed look and shook his head in exasperation. “Honestly, sometimes…” he muttered. He silently picked up the fish remains between his claws and thrust them at me. I flinched in repulsion when they slapped me in the chest and fell to the ground, leaving a little stain. “Now, eat it.”

 

My head snapped up. “ _What?_ ”

 

“Eat it.” Toothless couldn’t have been more serious. “You just went through hell and back to get this food. I’m not going to let you put it all to waste.” He nodded at the fish, adding, “Plus, you need to gain some weight there, Scrap.”

 

I glared at him. “I wasn’t going to waste it! I was going to cook them in a fire!”

 

He raised a brow calmly. He didn’t look put-off by my excuse in the least bit. “And how would you do that?”

 

I paused with a small frown. “Well, obviously _you_ won’t do it, so I guess I’d just light it myself,” I admitted, shrugging.

 

Toothless’ jaw dropped and he leaped to his feet. “ _What?!_ Are you _crazy?_ Look at what happened the last time you tried to use a fireball!” He exclaimed, nodding towards the toppled-over side of the cove. “You have _no_ control over your firepower! You’d start a fire in here and get us killed, or worse—you’d attract all the Vikings here, and _they’d_ get us!”

 

I felt myself blush. “I’d be able to do it!” I scrambled for something that sounded reasonable. “You could tell me how to or something!”

 

Scoffing, my friend shook his head. “There is no way I’m letting _you_ practice your fire-breathing in the place I’m _living_ in.” He gave me a cocky, toothy grin, showing that his name was completely false. “Besides, with how skittish you always act, half the island would be blown up because of you.” He smirked when I hissed in annoyance. It faltered a little for a second, though.

 

“I wouldn’t—“ I started.

 

“Just eat the fish, Hiccup,” Toothless cut me off, sighing. “It’s not that hard. All you have to do is swallow it.”

 

I stared at the half-digested, slobbery excuse of a meal in front of me. _Hell no!_

The dragon groaned in irritation when I wildly shook my head. “Don’t make me force-feed you! Geez, I have to do everything for you. Bathe you, feed you, teach you how to _move_ …It’s like you’re a little hatchling!” He ranted whilst walking towards me. I backed up. “Now come here!”

 

I balked. “ _No!_ Get that away from me! I’m not _touching_ it!” Toothless scooped it up in his teeth, giving me a look that said, “yes, you are, in fact, eating this disgusting mess of internal organs and flesh, and you’re GOING to like it”. I inched away from him further.

 

Toothless quickened his pace. I bolted away from him, screaming the entire way around the lake that I _absolutely would not_ put that in my mouth and swallow it. Toothless yelled back in equally—but muffled—loud exasperation that I _had to eat or I’ll lose more weight_ and that _I need to take it slow because I’d never eaten in this form_ and something about how regurgitated dragon food had some gross acid in it that apparently helped those who hadn’t eaten actual meat in awhile not go into something called ‘shock’. I didn’t believe the latter in one bit—I even tried telling him I’d just grab a new fish, but the dragon was convinced that my automatic rejection of them was a sign that I ‘hadn’t developed a strong stomach yet’ or some other such nonsense.

 

I was perched on a rock when he said this, having used my ability to fly to latch onto an overhang well into one of the walls of the cove, desperately trying to not slip off it.

 

“Don’t make me come up there, Hiccup!” Toothless roared at me, having dropped the fish to his side.

 

“No!” I countered, “I can just get a new one! I’m not eating that!”

 

“But you _need_ to!”

 

“No, I don’t!”

 

“Yes, you do!”

 

“I’m pretty sure if I’m nearly as big as you, then I can eat a regular fish!”

 

“Well, _I’m_ pretty sure that your body won’t be able to handle the sudden food!”

 

“Then what do you suggest, genius?”

 

“ _Eat_ the gods-forsaken fish I have here, you idiot!”

 

“ _I’m_ the idiot? At least I wasn’t afraid of a _basket!_ ”

 

By this time in our argument, Toothless seemed to have grown tired of our rather one-sided conversation. I watched in confusion when he stepped back and retracted his teeth. “What are you—“

 

A small, thin ball of blue fire raced through the air and onto the ledge I was standing on. On impact, it let loose a small—yet powerful—explosion, knocking me off my perch. I screamed as I cartwheeled through the air and hit the ground hard, landing on my back and bouncing a little. Groaning, I began to sit up—

 

—only for a massive paw to crush down on my chest, knocking me back down onto the ground. I blinked up at Toothless, mouth slightly open, as he threateningly stood over me, giving me an irritated glare. His other paw rose, the regurgitated fish dangled limply in his claws. He casually dropped it, which caused it to land right next to my neck.

 

“Eat. It,” Toothless ordered darkly. “I’m not about to watch you waste away because of your picky human eating habits. It’s either this or nothing.”

 

He slowly lifted his leg and settled back, allowing me to flip over and stand back up. I desperately tried to find a way out of this situation. Something—anything—that meant that I didn’t have to eat the fish.

 

Toothless slowly advanced on me. Our eyes met, and I could sense that he had the _full_ intent of pinning me to the ground and literally shoving the fish down my throat if I didn’t make a move towards it. The desperation—the thought that I might starve myself…

 

I was touched by his concern.

 

With a defeated sigh, I leaned down towards the fish. I hesitated and grimaced when my nose and mouth came within inches of it. But not because it smelled bad—no, it was just the opposite. It was because the scent actually made my belly roar with hunger, demanding that I fed it.

 

 _Might as well get over it_ , I thought, squeezing my eyes shut. I opened my mouth and took the fish in, trying to move it with my tongue to get over to one of the sides of my jaw so I could crush it. But instead, my body suddenly seemed to develop a mind of its own; my head tilted back, powerful throat muscles greedily pushing the slimy, disgustingly warm fish down my esophagus in seconds. My eyes snapped open—confusion filled every fiber of my body. Why had I done that?

 

I slowly pulled my head down when Toothless nudged me, a worried look on his face. I attempted a grin that I knew looked completely fake. My mind was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that I’d just eaten something so repulsing— _and liked it._

 

Toothless’ face softened, somehow understand my inner turmoil. He sat down besides me, looking away, but making sure that I was in his peripheral vision. His wing barely touched my shoulder, offering a tiny bit of comfort while my head whirled and spun in a hurricane of a million new thoughts and questions.

 

 _I used to be so determined to be as human as possible—what changed—what caused this—why don’t I feel repulsed by it—am I losing myself—will I completely turn into a dragon? How do I feel about_ that?

 

I stared at my feet and leaned into Toothless’ side, head resting on his neck and underneath his chin. He didn’t move an inch. We stayed in that position for a long time, me leaning on Toothless, and Toothless having no idea what to do—and during it, I wracked my brain for answers ( _What’s happening to me? What do I want?_ ) and came up with none. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get one single, straight, truthful answer. Everything I came up with had forced, unsolved, wrong logic behind it. It was the ‘would you turn back’ question all over again.

 

“Hiccup…” Toothless murmured. I lifted my gaze from the ground and moved my head up slightly. Neither of us broke contact. “I don’t expect…I mean,” he struggled for the correct words. Eventually, he just sighed, and said in the same soft tone, “It’s perfectly natural for you to feel that way. You haven’t eaten in days. You’d probably act that way…” he paused, almost painfully, “…in your human body under the same circumstances. You’re not forgetting who you are.”

 

“But I _am_ changing,” I whispered fearfully.

 

“If you weren’t, I’d be worried,” Toothless chuckled a little. “Maybe it’s for the better.”

 

I pulled away from him, gazing into his eyes. After a couple seconds, I looked away, ears drooping. _I don’t understand anything anymore._

 

Toothless stared at me and I stared at the ground. _Why the sudden…regret? I know that acting human in a draconic body is a death-wish itching to come true. But I shouldn’t have acted like_ that _…_

 

“Me neither,” Toothless sighed besides me. I jumped, realizing that I’d accidentally spoken aloud my realization. “It’s just a strange thought, how I wanted nothing more than you to be dead only a couple days ago.” I nodded dismissively. “Strange how the world just shifts right in front of you,” he continued, talking so quietly that I had to strain to hear. “If someone told me I’d end up having a human…dragon… _something_ as my friend, I’d have attacked them for their insolence.”

 

I cringed at being called a _something_. But that’s what I was, wasn’t I? Not quite a dragon, definitely not a human.

 

I turned to Toothless slightly. He was watching the lake. I followed his gaze. “The same goes for me…except for the attacking part. I’d probably get floored,” I laughed weakly at my joke. Toothless’ mouth quirked, but the thick, serious atmosphere about us quickly killed off any attempts at humor.

 

“Look,” Toothless finally looked me right in the eyes, leaning down to my eye-level. “You’re not going to know how you feel in this situation right away. Hell, even I don’t!” He widened his eyes and unraveled his wings and tailfins a little. “Don’t worry yourself into depression. You’ll figure it out eventually. And,” he gave me an honest and real, albeit sad grin. “… and I’m not going anywhere. You’ll have a little trouble getting me away.” Saying this, he unsheathed his teeth to their fullest and grinned widely, attempted his own joke to lighten the mood.

 

 _He doesn’t know, either_ , I thought to myself. _And he’s really trying. Unlike me, who just ran off for hours on end without telling him what I was doing. Way to go, Hiccup…_

 

Moved by his kind words, all I could do was nod, furiously blinking to get my eyes to clear back up. I felt my cheeks go fire-hot when I realized that I was _crying_. I ducked my head and covered my eyes with my left paw in humiliation. The emotion only deepened when Toothless rose to his feet and nudged me, causing me to jump.

 

“Hiccup?” Toothless was bewildered. “What’s wrong?”

 

I shook my head, sniffing. “It’s nothing,” I mumbled. _Stop crying, you idiot!_ I scolded myself. _What are you, some emotional teenage girl? Man up!_

 

Toothless poked me again, this time more pointedly, demanding an answer. I sharply turned my head away from him and used my right wing to cover my face up, blocking the Night Fury out. “I-I’m fine,” I said, “just…got something in my eye. Had to yawn,” I finished lamely.

 

“You’re a terrible liar,” Toothless huffed besides me in slight annoyance. Small vibrations in the ground told me that he was walking around me. Then, he was right next to me, using his paw to push mine off of my face and then forcing me to look up—just as I’d done last night. I blinked at him, waiting for an amused look or joke.

 

Instead, Toothless just stared at me with an unreadable, wide-eyed expression. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was too afraid to voice it. After a few seconds, he dropped his leg back to the ground and backed up. “Let’s go eat some more,” he decided distractedly. “But you have to take it slow.”

 

“I’m _not_ eating another one of those ‘special fish’,” I told him seriously.

 

The dragon chuckled humorlessly. “I know.”

 

* * *

 

You never know true hunger until you’ve starved for five days.

 

I learned the hard way that my dragon instincts—ones that I’d managed to repress this entire time—awoke very, very quickly and very, very strongly when I suddenly came in contact with food for the first time.

 

I hadn’t even realized what I was doing until I’d wolfed (or dragoned—haha, get it?) down half of my portion of the food, much to Toothless’ surprise. Had he not pushed me aside, I’d probably have gulped the entire pile down, leaving Toothless with a belly full of one measly fish.

 

Sighing guiltily, I wrapped myself up into a little ball even more, eyes half-lidded. I flinched a little when pain whipped through my midsection. Toothless had been right about taking it slow; the second I’d actually realized (in horror) what I’d done and retreated from the pile of fish, my stomach had clenched painfully, knocking my breath away. The situation was made into a much more embarrassing one when Toothless decided to give me an “I told you so” speech, telling me how he’d constantly repeated himself even after I’d had my first fish.

 

While irritated with me at first for ignoring his advice, Toothless got over it a lot quicker than I expected. He’d just sighed, shook his head, and taken a couple of fish for himself before walking over to me and sitting down next to me. Currently, the two of us were simply sitting in the noon sunlight, comfortable in the silence.

 

Of course, I was upset at myself for how I’d acted. But Toothless _had_ brought up a point about how anyone—even a human—would have reacted that way. It brought up memories of when I’d walk into Town Hall to see the most recent members of a raid or nest-search shoving as much food into their mouths as the could. That alone—and, maybe, Toothless’ support—had allowed me to pull myself together and not mope all day long. Though I was still angry at having decimated the supply by nearly a quarter.

 

 _I guess I’ll just have to get over it_ , I told myself. _Toothless was right. It’s perfectly normal that I wanted to eat a lot._ There was still a part of my mind that pointed out that maybe it was because I was a dragon—and I slapped it away, telling myself that it was completely wrong. _It’s perfectly normal,_ I repeated. I forced myself to stop thinking the unsettling thoughts, focusing on my surroundings instead.

 

The sunlight shone down on the entire cove, bathing everything in shades of gold and slightly glowing. A soft breeze blew, the grass swayed, and leaves rustled. A couple birds swooped ahead, spiraling and twirling, lost in their own little world where everything was safe and wonderful. The lake glistened like sapphire and soft shadows fell from the cliff walls and trees. Flickers of sunlight bounced between the branches of the giant oak Toothless and I were situated under, leaving colorful prints of vivid color where there were gaps. I shut my eyes and let out a contented sigh, enjoying every second of the peaceful moment that I never wanted to end.

 

It wasn’t until Toothless nudged me roughly in the shoulder that I realized that I'd fallen asleep. Still, I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to retreat from my swiftly-fading dream.

 

“ _Hiccup!_ ” Toothless hissed. “Get up _right now!_ There are humans approaching!”

 

I snapped my eyes open, sitting upright. Toothless was crouched defensively besides me, tail swishing, ears and side-frills flat against his head, and staring intently towards one of the longer cliffs of the cove. I pricked my ears and barely—just barely—heard the unmistakable sound of human voices playing through the trees. They were coming from the cliffside closest to us.

 

“Oh, no!” I gasped, leaping to my feet. Dread filled my entire body; last night, I’d told myself that we had to figure out a way away from here before another hunting party set out—and I’d _completely forgotten!_ I ran towards the fish and shredded basket, desperately nudging them with my nose and front paws towards the edge of the cliff, where there was a shadow. “We have to hide all of this!” I continued to push the food away, mind working a mile a minute. How big was the party? What would we do if they came down?

 

A strong, sturdy set of jaws clamped down on my scruff and pulled me back roughly, forcing a startled squeak out of me. I turned around with wide eyes to see Toothless dragging my semi-limp body across the ground, towards the more tree-filled area of our home.

 

“No,” Toothless growled, “we need to hide _ourselves!_ Now get over there and sit in one of the trees—you blend right into them!”

 

I shook my head and Toothless dropped me. Ignoring the pain in my stomach and neck, I desperately glanced over my shoulder to see the pile of food sitting in broad daylight. “If they see that, they’ll come down here!” I tried to reason with the Night Fury. His ears raised straight up and his slit eyes traveled up towards where the hunting party was approaching. Fear flashed through his lime-green orbs like lightning and he dropped his gaze to me with a firm look.

 

“We’re hiding, _now._ Get over there!” He ordered, pushing me harshly in the side. I stumbled a bit and moved a couple steps forward. Then I stopped and gave Toothless a half-hearted glare.

 

“There’s no use in hiding when they know that we’ve been here! We won’t be able to _not_ come out of hiding!” I exclaimed, turning my body towards the mess again.

 

Toothless stepped in front of me. “No! They might not even make the connection!”

 

“It’s a _giant_ pile of fish!”

 

Shaking his head again, the Night Fury held his place like a stone in a river. I paused and bolted around him in a desperate attempt to cover our tracks. Unfortunately, Toothless saw this coming, and turned around just as swiftly as I had and grabbed the midsection of my tail, digging his feet into the ground and pushing back. I strained to move forward, even by an inch, but the determined dragon would see none of it. He held firmly in place, his superior strength easily overpowering mine.

 

“Lemme go!” I cried, whipping my tail back and forth and glaring over my shoulder. Toothless cried something muffled back at me, shaking his head and pulling back even more, causing my body to drag unwillingly across the ground. I groaned. “We don’t have the time for this! Toothless, _come on!_ ”

 

“No, ‘oo _comf onf!_ ” He shouted back at me.

 

I turned around and squared my left feet, pushing off the ground as hard as I could with my right and trying to swing my tail back. Toothless lost grip for a second—and then he pounced onto my tail again, even further up, and yanked me back hard. I let out a squeak when I toppled over, unbalanced and having not expected that.

 

“Come on, hurry up!” Toothless jumped over to me and nudged my in the side, helping me (shakily) stand up. I swung my tail back and forth until I finally straightened out. Toothless began to run down towards the other end of the cove, pausing halfway there to make sure I was following. With a defeated sigh, I began to sprint after him, suddenly realizing that the humans sounded incredibly close.

 

But I was too late.

 

A small, shiny object whizzed over my head and onto the ground, sticking up and vibrating loudly before settling in its upright position. I shrieked in surprise and fear, halting and forcing myself to half-sit down to avoid touching the long, sharp dagger. Toothless screamed my name, rushing towards me as fast as his long legs could carry him. He easily dodged another dagger thrown at him, and, suddenly, he was right in front of me, knocking me to the ground and standing over my body protectively and letting loose a terrifying snarl. I cowered.

 

A couple seconds later, I realized what was happening—I had finally caught sight of _who_ exactly was paying our cove such a nice little visit.

 

“ _Stop!_ ” I shouted, scrambling out from under Toothless and shaking my head wildly and deliberately, staring straight into the eyes of Astrid.

 

She hesitated with her throwing knife, eyes glancing down at the still-growling Toothless. The Jorgenson twins were on her left, and I immediately took notice of how Ruffnut was leaning heavily on her brother and panting. At Astrid’s right, Fishlegs watched me with inquisitive eyes, not holding a single weapon, and Snotlout was giving me the dirtiest look I’d ever seen and clutching a sword in his grip. I felt my breath catch.

 

Toothless turned towards me and demanded, “Why should I?! They’re attacking us!”

 

I shook my head again. “This is all a big misunderstanding! Just let me talk to them!”

 

“No!” Toothless crouched low and glared at the Vikings for a second before turning his angry eyes on to me. “I’m _not_ letting them hurt you—us!”

 

“They won’t!” I cried. “Just let me talk to them!”

 

As I said this, I began to move my neck back up, towards where Astrid and the others had been standing.

 

But they were gone.

 

* * *

 

My ears swiveled back and forth, barely detecting the sound of rushing footsteps and whispering voices. I snarled, pushing myself in front of Hiccup and snarled in the general direction of where the humans currently were. There was no way, in the name of the Dragon of the Sun, that I would let them _anywhere_ near us.

 

Behind me, Hiccup was having a full-blown panic attack; apparently, he did not realize that the humans were still around us, and that they were _close._ I snapped a command to hide at him again, but he either ignored me or didn’t hear me over his ramblings.

 

It didn’t bother me in the slightest, though. Because, right as I pinpointed the sounds, a human scrambled out from between a tiny crack in the wall of the cove. I immediately recognized it as the ‘Astrid’ girl that Hiccup was attracted to and that I had chased. She was followed by a male, muscley, and black-haired boy. A set of two humans who looked completely identical to the each other (though one had a more feminine shape to it and was incredibly pale in comparison to the others) pushed their way in next, and finally, the fat Viking that had foolishly come unarmed squeezed himself into our home.

 

I jumped, bounced off a rock, and raced my way towards them, letting out an angry battle shriek. The humans all tensed, ‘Astrid’ withdrawing a double-bladed axe from her belt, the black-haired Viking holding his sword up, and the other two males covering the wilted human with their bodies. I grinned maniacally.

 

They were going to die.

 

“ _NOOOOOO!_ ” I barely registered the sound of rapidly flapping wings being pulled into a dive before I was suddenly tackled into the ground, my entire body dragging through the filthy dirt for a short distance. I cracked an eye open and stared at Hiccup in disbelief while he bounced off of me, standing with his body facing the cliff so he could watch both me and the evil humans. His wings were spread out so that one was blocking me from moving and the other was mere inches away from ‘Astrid’’s blade.

 

 _He doesn’t know he’s that close!_ I realized, jumping to my feet. “Hiccup, _run!_ ” I screamed, knowing full well that he was far too gentle to attack any human without being hurt first—and that he wanted me to follow the same morals. But the boy just shook his head. My jaw dropped. What was he doing?! “ _RUN!_ ” I repeated, lowering my body to the ground and preparing to jump over him to tackle the humans down. I considered shooting a fireblast, but immediately threw it aside—Hiccup could move very fast if he wanted to, and I didn’t want him jumping in the line of fire.

 

“No! All of you! Stop!” Hiccup slapped me right in the face with his wing, abruptly cutting off my snarl and forcing me to sneeze. When the Vikings began to laugh, he gave them a look of some sort (I couldn’t see his face) that made them stop. I continued on with my outraged growl, pretending that nothing had happened. Hiccup’s head whipped around with a look of warning so quickly that I actually faltered. “That means you, too, Toothless!”

 

“We should just kill them!” I rejected. “They were just _attacking us!_ And you want to befriend them?! And for the _love of the Dragon of the Sun,_ get away from them!”

 

Hiccup shook his head defiantly. “They’re _already_ my friends! I know them! They just think that you’re trying to hurt me.” I reared my head back and scoffed. “What? It’s true!”

 

I glanced over at the humans. ‘Astrid’ had her arms extended out, blocking the sword-wielding boy and the male look-alike from getting past her. The chubby and weak one were behind the three of them, holding on to each other nervously. The fear-scent coming from them made me feel slightly giddy, but I pushed it away. There were more important matters at hand.

 

Like getting Hiccup the hell away from danger.

 

I took a step forward, tuning Hiccup’s shouts out. Those humans were either going to die or never come here again out of sheer terror alone. Preferably the first option. I would make sure of it.

 

Hiccup turned his back fully on the humans and rose slightly on his hind legs in front of me, wings extended. “ _Toothless!_ ” His pine-green eyes blazed like the moon. “Listen to me! They won’t hurt _any_ of us! But for that to happen, you have to stop threatening them!”

 

“They’re tricking you!” I shot back, moving to the left slightly. Hiccup evenly straightened out with me again. “They just want you to trust them and then slash at you like there’s no tomorrow! Two of them know you stole, yes?” Hiccup’s determined look waved for a second, and he nodded cautiously. “Then that means they probably came here for revenge!”

 

“ _Or_ ,” my friend said, “they came here to ask what in the gods’ name I was doing? If they were here to attack us, then I’d already be down by now!” To accentuate this, he brought his tail forward and waved it in my face. It took me a few seconds to realize that he’d purposely put it directly in front of the humans to prove a point.

 

I growled. “Just let me kill them,” I repeated, “and then we won’t be in any danger at all. You told me they _attacked_ you! I’m going to return the favor. And _ten times worse_ ,” I added darkly, a cruel grin slicing my face. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at me—and, suddenly, the bond was there again. I felt his emotions: fear, nervousness—and shock at how I was acting. And then annoyance when he sensed how I truly knew that my side was justified.

 

We stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of us giving up on the fight. Eventually, I won, since Hiccup broke the bond and shook his head. “Toothless, please,” his tone had suddenly acquired a begging plea to it, “just let me speak with them. They really mean no harm! Nobody has to kill anybody!”

 

“I don’t care,” I told him casually. “I _want_ to. They made you sit in that forest for _hours_ in utter _fear_.” I snapped my teeth and claws to their full extent, pulling my wings in and letting my ears and frills lay flat.

 

Hiccup choked for a second. “I-I wasn’t scared, just worried.”

 

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. From the way I see it, you were distressed for all that time and then some, and it was because of _them!_ And they did the same to me!” I hissed.

 

Hiccup’s head tipped to the side slightly. “…you care that much?” He murmured. I paused, caught off-guard, and gave him a small grin. I was a little hurt that he hadn’t realized this earlier—I mean, you’d think that after this morning, he’d have realized that I was all-in for this to work. I didn’t want him as a friend for food; I wanted him as a friend because he _was_ one. But there’s no point in having a friend when they’ve gone and killed themselves by jumping into the enemy’s arms.

                      

The human-dragon gave me a small smile. “Oh…me, too.”

 

I beamed, and, taking this as his acceptance for me to kill those annoying, repulsive humans, I simply straightened out and walked past him and towards the humans with the most dignified air I could muster. I stood beside Hiccup, staring coolly down at ‘Astrid’. Her eyes were wide with intimidation, to my pleasure.

 

I grinned, showing her all my teeth, and lunged. All at once, the humans shrieked, ‘Astrid’ leaped backwards, and Hiccup jumped at my neck and grabbed my scruff, jerking me to the side so that, instead of hitting my target, I grabbed at thin air. I gasped in amazement when Hiccup pulled me aside, _hauled me off my feet_ , and _threw me_ a couple feet away. I rolled on the ground several times and allowed myself to lay there, sucking in air and shaking in astonishment.

 

Hiccup, having not noticed his supernatural strength, stormed over to me. “ _What_ is _wrong_ with you?!” He screamed. “I just _told_ you that I didn’t want them to be killed!” He crouched low, tail swishing back and forth and shifting his weight side to side. Behind him, the male look-alike was hugging his female look-alike to his chest and ‘Astrid’ and the fat Viking were holding the black-haired male back. I gave him the evilest look I could muster, and he attempted to send one right back. I snorted at him, which caused him to become as red as a Flame-Skin.

 

“You told me,” I groaned, sitting up and slowly pushing my feet to the ground, “that I could.”

 

Hiccup’s mouth dropped open. “I most _certainly_ did not!”

 

I narrowed one eye at him and raised a brow. “But you said that you cared about me, too.” Betrayal washed through me, and something slowly dawned on me. “Are…are you siding with _them?_ ”

 

“No,” Hiccup growled. “I’m apparently the only one here thinking straight! I care about you—I truly do, more than I imagined—but me saying that was _not_ a go-ahead to kill my friends! And I’m not siding with anyone here!” He added when I began to interrupt him for an answer.

 

“But they _attacked_ you. Just now, and when you were getting us food!” I defended myself. “At least let me get _payback!_ Or guarantee that they won’t tell anyone else!”

 

My friend, apparently having sensed something, straightened out of his aggressive position. I hesitated, glancing at the group of humans (who all seemed to have calmed down and formed a protective circle around the crippled look-alike, who was looking significantly less unhealthy, to my despair), and did the same, eyeing them viciously. One wrong move, and they’d be dead. I had a _very_ clear shot, since Hiccup had folded his wings and was now positioned more to my left.

 

I almost hoped that one would foolishly aim their weapon towards either of us.

 

“Toothless, please, just listen to me. I know it’s hard for you because they _did_ do that. But Snotlout was the only one who attacked me, and he’s just a huge jerk who’s always bullied me in the past. And Astrid threw those daggers because she probably saw you dragging me around and thought you were trying to kill me,” Hiccup tried to explain to me.

 

“I would never,” I snarled. “And if ‘Snotlout’ has attacked you in the past, then he’s long-deserved this!” I pawed at the ground anxiously, rocking back and forth on my hind legs and unfurling my wings halfway.

 

“No! He doesn’t!” Hiccup finally noticed his position in relation to the humans and myself and moved so that they were completely blocked from view. I growled in frustration and disappointment. “I don’t mind at all, really! This is ridiculous!”

 

“ _…look, he’s convincing it to not hurt us. Just give him more time, it might be a little hard for the Night Fury. We can’t do anything until it stops attacking us,_ ” someone was saying behind Hiccup. I disregarded it. Hard for me? No. Hard for them? _Yes._

 

“Yeah, because you won’t let me kill them!” I countered.

 

Hiccup’s face lowered until I could only see his thin, furious eyes. “They don’t need to be killed.”

 

“Yes, they—“ I started.

 

“ _Toothless!_ Just trust me!” Hiccup shouted, cutting me off and squaring his feet.

 

I stopped mid-sentence, watching Hiccup’s eyes. He clearly did not want the disgusting humans to die for reasons I couldn’t fathom. But he was determined enough of his decision to leap in front of me and fight me off tooth and claw. That meant _something._

 

I dropped my head in defeat. “Fine,” I hissed bitterly. “But if they attack either of us—“

 

“I know, I know,” Hiccup interrupted me, looking more relieved than anything. He turned his body towards the humans, paused, and looked back towards me. “Thanks, Toothless.”

 

I only nodded and took a few steps forward, making sure to keep my distance. I was no fool—I knew that the humans trusted me even less now, and would probably take any attempt to get near them as another stealthy attack. Which, admittedly, it would be.

 

Hiccup walked towards them, and, to my despair, let himself fall to his belly in front of them, completely exposing his neck and leaving him in a very hard-to-get-out-of position. To make it even worse, _all_ of the humans were now as tall as him or barely at eye level (well, a few of them were still like that when he was standing, since he tended to slouch, but that’s besides the point). I tensed, tail twitching and ears raised slightly. One wrong move…

 

Immediately after he sat down, before either of us could react, ‘Astrid’ broke away from the group and took a pace towards him. “Hiccup?” She asked warily. The two look-alikes watched on with curiosity and the overweight boy tapped his fingers together and stood in front of the glaring black-haired boy. I decided to keep an eye on him, since he seemed to be the only one who was a direct threat.

 

Hiccup nodded seriously at her, causing all of them to gasp and murmur. ‘Astrid’ gulped, and continued, “What just…what just happened here?” She dropped her voice to a whisper, apparently thinking that I could not hear her, and added, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to stop that _evil_ dragon from brainwashing you.”

 

I barely suppressed a deathly snarl. Hiccup reared his head back in surprise and glanced at me with an amused look.

 

“No!” He laughed, shaking his head. “Toothless hasn’t brainwashed me!” At Astrid’s confused look, he stopped, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then, he purposely shook his head and dropped it, bringing his left arm up over it and tapping it with his paw.

 

“What the heck?” The male look-alike drawled, face scrunching up.

 

“Ssh! Idiot!” The female look-alike scolded weakly, shoving him lightly.

 

The black-haired Viking stepped around the obese one. “Wait!” He held up both his hands. “Are you saying that you _chose_ to steal? Because it sure does look like it!” At the other humans’ confused looks, he scoffed. “Oh, please, did you guys _not_ see how Hiccup was completely in control the entire time?”

 

“Uh, we were kinda being attacked by a _Night Fury_.” The male look-alike replied sarcastically.

 

‘Astrid’ turned to Hiccup, who was giving the black-haired boy a pleading look. “Is it true, Hiccup?”

 

Hiccup opened his mouth, paused…and hung his head.

 

“I knew it!” The arrogant boy exclaimed, throwing his well-toned arms into the air. He pointed accusingly at Hiccup and shouted, “ _You traitor!_ ”

 

Hiccup’s head shot up, eyes glossy. “No, Snotlout, I didn’t mean—“

 

“Shut up! You’ve forgotten about us!” ‘Snotlout’ cried. ‘Astrid’ turned around and pushed him back, growling a warning, and the chubby Viking placed his hand on ‘Snotlout’’s shoulder. This didn’t stop the outraged human from continuing, “You’re a traitor! You don’t care about any of us anymore! That’s why you stole the food from us and brought it back to _that!_ ” He pointed a finger at me. I hissed menacingly.

 

“Snotlout, stop it!” The chubby Viking shouted, knocking ‘Snotlout’ back. The black-haired boy turned around, fists raised, but the other human didn’t flinch. He narrowed his eyes, sidestepped around him until he was between him and Hiccup, and said, “You don’t get to automatically assume that! Maybe they made a truce!” At the blank look he received, he went on, “That would mean that Hiccup isn’t a traitor!”

 

The male look-alike spoke up. “Uh, I’m not sure about that.”

 

“Yeah,” the female counterpart added, though her voice was quieter than the rest. “I mean, he still stole.”

 

“But he’s still a person!” Fishlegs shouted, palms fisted. “He’s not perfect!”

 

I glanced at Hiccup. He was silently watching, dread spread across his face. He looked over at me for a second, but the conversation regained his attention before I could do anything else.

 

 “Guys!” ‘Astrid’ called, her tone angry and commanding. She waited for the argument to settle. “So, Hiccup isn’t brainwashed. Right?” She swiveled her head around to look at him. He nodded. Skeptically, ‘Astrid’ continued, “So, that means that he came to some sort of agreement with the _Night Fury_ ,” she spat the words out as if they were trash, “like Fishlegs said. But that’s all we know, and here you guys are, talking as if Hiccup isn’t here!”

 

“He _isn’t!_ ” Snotlout exclaimed. Hiccup cringed and let out a soft, low moan.

 

Astrid didn’t agree or disagree. All she did was turn around to Hiccup. “We need to talk.”

 

Hiccup’s expression—so full of hurt and desperation—was impossible to ignore. I threw my ‘stand aside’ plan right out the nest and trotted over to him, smiling when the humans all tensed and backed up a little. The only thing that bothered me was how the chubby Viking stared at me inquiringly, as if I were a thing to study. I also noticed that the male look-alike was holding onto his female look-alike, an uncertain look on his face. I gave him a glare to put him in his place—and he _smiled._ I shook my head at that, deciding that he’d hit his head once too many times, and stood proudly besides my friend.

 

“Toothless? What are you doing?” Hiccup asked me warily, pushing himself to his feet. He glanced back and forth between me and the humans, leaning forward slightly.

 

I gave him an encouraging smile. “I’m not going to attack them.” I said truthfully. Frowned slightly, I reconsidered my decision. “Unless they attack us…” I growled in a low tone of voice.

 

Hiccup seemed to stop holding his breath and deflated in relief. He settled back into his lying-down position, much to my irritation. “Okay,” he said, and nodded reassuringly at ‘Astrid’ and the large Viking who’d stood up for him. I decided that, if I were to put stereotypes on the humans, then those two would be the ‘good guys’. They were the only ones who were actually giving Hiccup a chance.

 

They all looked at each other, silently deciding what to do. After a short debate, the two look-alikes backed up, closely guarded by ‘Snotlout’. The fat Viking stood in front of the three of them, and in front of him, closest to Hiccup and myself, was ‘Astrid’.

 

I refused to sit down, though, and glowered down at the humans. My gaze rested on ‘Astrid’, and I smirked. “Well, we meet again, don’t we?” I cooed, though I knew she could not understand me. In the corner of my eye, Hiccup rolled his eyes, causing the female look-alike to snicker and ‘Snotlout’ to growl, face beat-red.

 

I was baffled when ‘Astrid’ coolly replied to me, “Nice to see you, too, kitty. Did you miss me?” My face wrinkled with anger.

 

“You’ll regret that--!” I stopped abruptly when Hiccup pushed me in the chest with his wing, obviously trying to remind me of our previous conversation. Annoyed, I sneered at ‘Astrid’, trying my best to send the threat to her. She raised a brow, but did nothing else.

 

“Alright,” she declared. “Let’s get down to business.”


	7. Chapter 7

_Who-who-whooooooooo. Hoot. Hoot._

_Twee! Twee! Twee!_

_Arf! Arf!_

Briefly glancing at the wildlife, I couldn’t help but envy them. Their lives were so simple, so basic…and mine… _wasn’t_. The pressure of the situation—one that would probably determine the rest of my life—made me feel like a bird caught in a trap: helpless, weak, and panicky.

 

I quickly looked over to my right side at and back to Astrid, the only of the five Vikings to be even remotely near both Toothless and I at the same time, and waited for her to say something. It had been a minute since she’d ‘started’ the conversation, stating that we should ‘get down to business.’ And then she’d lapsed off into silence without a single word.

 

Using the quiet to my advantage, I trailed my gaze over to the others. I could easily smell a wound on Ruffnut—it was a sour and bitter smell, with the stench of sweat added in—and from how she was gripping her side, I’d say that she’d been caught in the ribs and stupidly come here anyways. It worried me a little that I wasn’t too surprised by this…but, hey, we’re _Vikings_. What can you expect?

 

To my relief, the group hadn’t swayed from their ‘stronger Vikings in front and back’ formation, if only because it meant Ruffnut would have some protection if the worst-case scenario really did happen. I saw the way Toothless took notice of her; if he wanted to take out as many of them as he could instead of going for Astrid and Snotlout first, he’d beeline right for the poor girl. Said twin’s brother was holding onto her, keeping her upright, and giving me a cautious look. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Fishlegs was _smiling_ at me, which, strangely, helped to calm my frayed nerves quite a bit. I genuinely attempted to return the kind gesture. I doubt he noticed it, with me being a dragon and all, but it was worth the shot and made me feel like I was doing _something_ right.

 

I avoided looking at Snotlout altogether. It took one glimpse of his hate-filled, level stare for guilt to seize my heart and make me weak-kneed. I so desperately wanted to tell him I was sorry; even though what he said was horrible, he _was_ my kin, and I’d always felt a naïve attachment towards him born from childhoods spent playing together. I still felt quite a bit of the family loyalty towards him that is drilled into every Viking child’s head. Obviously, he wasn’t on the same page as me. (Can’t you just _feel the love?_ ) Plus, something about him seemed off…he wasn’t acting normally.

 

“Alright, then.”

 

I snapped to attention, my head whipping towards Astrid so fast that you’d think I’d get whiplash. I felt my ears stand nearly straight, at an angle, and my side-frills push outward, away from my head, and twitch—but it was all subconscious **.** I was completely focused on Astrid, who was giving me an unreadable stare that I just _knew_ wasn’t going to end well for me.

 

Beside me, Toothless growled.

 

Astrid casually held her axe with the blade facing Toothless, causing a hot rush of fear and anger to shoot through my veins. “I guess we’re going to have to do with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. Alright?” I shook off the abrupt, confusing feelings enough to nod and tip my head to the side, telling her to go on. The beautiful woman suddenly narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, growling, “And don’t you _dare_ lie, Hiccup Haddock. If you really aren’t under a spell, then you _better_ have a good explanation.”

 

I winced at the harsh tone. After a second, I realized that she was waiting for me to respond, and sheepishly nodded. I noticed Toothless moving on the edges of my vision and jerked my head to the side a little to see that he’d settled into a crouch. My muscles tensed, preparing to tackle him again if—the gods forbid—he tried to attack any of them again.

 

Astrid opened her mouth to say something—

 

“Why did you steal?”

 

Toothless, Astrid, and I all jumped and, in a rare act of agreement, gave Fishlegs (who’d spoken up) identically annoyed looks. He self-consciously deflated when the attention of everyone present swiveled to him in mere seconds, and stuttered out, “I-I mean, I just… _ahem_ ,” he cleared his throat, and went on in a slightly more confident tone, “Why would you steal if you’re at a truce with the Night Fury? Surely it could just hunt something for you guys, right? Why default to taking food from us?”

 

I looked over at Toothless for his reaction. The link between us burst to life, carrying over his feelings towards me so strongly that it took my breath away. There was nothing but _hate._ There was a clear message within the emotion: _Do not tell them._

 

I slowly turned my head away, shaken. Standing as he was just behind Astrid, it was easy to see curiosity twinkling in Fishlegs’ eyes. Everyone was looking at me.

 

I hummed nervously, trying to figure out how to get the message across without flat-out lying or getting Toothless any angrier than he already was. _Oh gods, what do I do?_

 

It quickly became apparent to me that it was an impossible task.

 

I slumped, giving Toothless—who had settled for glaring at Astrid—a pleading look. “I have to tell them.”

 

I really shouldn’t have been surprised when his anger suddenly redirected towards me. But it was still startling to see that expression on his face aimed at me after days of him being actually sort-of okay with me.

 

“ _What?_ No! We can’t let them know!” He shouted. The teenagers all jumped and readied their weapons. I shook my head at them and was quickly rewarded with glares and Toothless yelling even _louder_ , “Are you even paying attention?!”

 

“They’ll figure out eventually! I mean, it’s kind of obvious if you take a look at your tail!” I pointed out in irritation, nodding towards said one-finned appendage for emphasis. “Plus, I _just_ told Astrid that I wasn’t going to lie!”

 

“I don’t care. I don’t want them to know!” Toothless exclaimed. He crouched and half-opened his wings, turning fully to face me, and spat out, “If they do, they can use it to their advantage!”

 

I scoffed, knowing _exactly_ why the stubborn dragon didn’t want the others to know. It certainly had nothing to do with what he was claiming. “They won’t do that! In fact, I think that if they knew you can’t get out of here, they’d be a lot calmer!” I took a deep breath to calm myself down and continued, “I know it sucks, but it would make you less of a threat. They’d be a lot less prone to attacking us if they knew that you were defenseless.” My eyes widened the second the last word left my mouth, body filling with dread and making me wish that I had never even said it.

 

Toothless glared at me and turned his head away. “Fine. Tell them. If you can.”

 

I sighed. “Toothless, look, I didn’t—“

 

“I said fine!” He snapped. He was still where he’d been earlier, but he was making it clear from his body language that he was _very_ upset with me. He looked like he didn’t want to be anywhere near me. I felt my face wrinkle up in anger at his over-sensitivity and let out a long breath, reminding myself that—while still at fault—Toothless had never been placed in this type of situation before, and if I could take anything from how he’d acted in our first few days together, I’d bet I had just said the dragon equivalent of “screw you”. More still, if I hadn’t known better, I’d have even said he was _scared._

 

Whispering voices rising in volume interrupted my reply, forcing me to pay attention to the situation. I turned to face the teenagers, whose expressions ranged from awe, to fear, and to anger. Snotlout abruptly pulled away from Astrid, who shook her head harshly at him. All of them kept a wary eye of Toothless, who was still immaturely pouting and most likely coming up with a list of insults. I shook my head, memories flashing to last night. Toothless was scared that I would switch sides on him; he was scared of _abandonment._ And, apparently, fear made him even _more_ short-tempered, snappy, and passive-aggressive. Yippee.

 

But he had to learn to put his trust in me like I did with him. If not…well, then we were one fight away from a shattered puzzle. And neither of us would recover.

 

_Okay, Hiccup, you can do this_ , I encouraged myself. _All you have to do is keep Toothless from attacking them, get them to understand why you had to steal and why they shouldn’t attack Toothless, and make amends with all of them. Especially Snotlout and Astrid. No biggie._

_…I am so screwed._

 

Slowly, I stood up, making sure to keep my movements deliberate and predictable. Bringing my tail forward, I flexed the muscles on my tail-tip, causing the tailfins to fan in and out. Then I made a grand show of whipping my tail around (intentionally smacking Toothless lightly in the side, which made him to grunt and twitch his ears and side-frills in embarrassment) and pointed with my nose at his single-finned tail.

 

I returned my gaze back to Astrid, probably the smartest out of them all, with an expectant look. They’d been having their own conversation for awhile and I didn’t know what to expect. She looked surprised at the discovery—but that was it. Just surprise.

 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Tuffnut asked in annoyance, as if I’d just gone through an insanely long explanation that had bored him half to death. I shot him an impatient look and shook my tail again, flinging the tip back and forth like a ragdoll. This produced a raised eyebrow from the male twin, who obviously did not comprehend what I was trying to get across.

 

“So what? You have one more than the Night Fury,” Ruffnut wheezed. She straightened a little, holding less tightly onto her twin and narrowing weakened eyes at me. “Why does that mean you stole from us?”

 

“Ugh, really?” I moaned in exasperation, mostly towards myself. I let my head drop. How could I possibly explain this to them?

 

“I told you those humans are idiots,” Toothless ‘reminded’ me. With a sidelong glance, I saw that he’d straightened out his entire body posture and was giving me a very smug look.

 

“Are not,” I childishly disagreed. “They just don’t know dragon anatomy like you do. And me, sorta. You have to remember that this is the first time all but one of them has _really_ seen you up close. When you weren’t tied down.” Toothless snorted and, after a couple seconds of staring at him, I felt a heavy frown stretch across my muzzle. “You really don’t mind, right? I mean, I don’t want to lie, and—“

 

“I said fine,” Toothless interrupted me. “If that’s what you want to do, then do it.” When I said nothing, he tipped his head to the side slightly. The dragon opened his mouth and seemed to have an internal war while the other five and I watched him in silence. After a few seconds, he lowered his eyes to his feet. “…fine.”

 

“Tooth—“

 

“Quit acting like every single argument is going to destroy our friendship,” Toothless raised his head and gave me an aggravated—but strained—look. “You can’t expect us to agree on _everything…_ ” He trailed off and suddenly perked up with hope. “Though I’d rather you not tell them…”

 

I smiled grimly. “How else can I explain why I stole without lying? I mean, Fishlegs _is_ right about how it would make no sense otherwise.”

 

Toothless’ eyes glazed over for a second as he tried to figure out something that I’d been trying to find the answer to since the beginning of the meeting. He blinked out of it and slumped slightly, shooting each of the teenagers a look that clearly said that he wanted them to freeze in the deepest pits of Helheim. “I don’t know,” he bitterly told me while still giving them the evil eye, “But I’ll have you know that I don’t like this in the least bit.”

 

“Sorry,” I tried, feeling completely useless. If I could just explain the situation to Astrid and the others, then Toothless and I wouldn’t be sitting in a state of paranoia all day long because of a hypothetical attack. We’d be able to have protection from the inside while we worked this whole…situation out. So it was worth it if his pride was bruised; we’d be safe.

 

It did suck that Toothless wasn’t going to be cooperative _at all,_ though, because of what I was about to do.

 

I chirped wordlessly at all of them in a high-pitched tone and unraveled my wings as far as I could (which forced Toothless to duck to avoid being smacked). I crouched down and paused to wiggle my rump, carefully eyeing Astrid and the others as I did. With a deep breath, I leapt into the air and starting to fly in a tight circle around the ‘popular’ Vikings, staying several meters above them. Everyone watched me silently until I got flustered enough to land next to Astrid and run over to Toothless to avoid falling. He raised a brow at me and grinned. I decided to ignore it and sat down next to him, pretending nothing had happened.

 

“Show off! Do you think that makes you better than us, that you managed to have it teach you to fly?” Snotlout scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his chin up. I felt my ears and wings droop, and, at the same time, Toothless let out a deadly snarl. Even so, my cousin still managed to look arrogant and generally pissed off while he held up his sword and turned all attention to my Draconic friend. I cringed and stared at my feet for a few seconds, anger and embarrassment rushing through my veins. I wasn’t even thinking about _that_ ; I was just trying to show them my point. And I _seriously_ wanted to get across to Snotlout that I really was sorry.

 

I wasn’t sure what to make of the situation when nobody said anything. Instead, Astrid stepped forward, cleared her throat loudly, and spoke. “So…you were flying…” She grew quiet, forehead wrinkling slightly. “…and you stole _by_ flying…Snotlout’s right about the teaching thing, yes?” She asked with sudden clarity. I paused for a moment and nodded, smiling and eyes brightening. “So it was the Night Fury that taught you?” I   nodded my head more vigorously than before. She was finally getting it! I _knew_ that this would pay off!

 

“Then why didn’t the Night Fury steal instead of you? I mean, you’re obviously talking to it when you to start to stare at it and make weird sounds…and completely ignore us.” Astrid raised a delicate eyebrow and frowned heavily. My excitement found a nice little corner to curl up and die in. “Why couldn’t you have just _told_ it where the food was?”

 

Toothless chuckled. “These humans are _sooo_ smart.”

 

“They are! They just don’t…get it,” I defended them.

 

“Well, _get_ them to! Or make them leave!”

 

“Oh, okay. I haven’t been trying to communicate with them for the past fifteen minutes or anything.” This earned me a slap to the face via tailfin. Snotlout and Tuffnut burst out laughing when I let out a rather unmanly yelp and leaned down to rub my face.

 

I felt a little bit of relief come to me when Astrid whipped around and snapped at the two to pay attention. At least that meant she wasn’t _completely_ mad at me.

 

Shaking my head, I moved back into my sitting position and wracked my brain for answers. How could I tell them? It was made painfully obvious that I couldn’t just _act_ it out. And Toothless _definitely_ wouldn’t demonstrate his crippled flying no matter how nicely I asked. If only there was a way—!

 

Oh.

 

_Oh._

 

I am _such_ an _idiot._

 

I couldn’t help it. With the stress of the situation, feeling way too high-strung for way too long, and the absurdity of my realization all weighing down on my shoulders…I burst out laughing. Toothless jumped about five feet in the air at my unexpected mood swing and blinked several times, head whipping back and forth between me and Astrid and the others so fast it became a blur. Of course, this made me laugh even harder.

 

“Hiccup?!” Toothless shoved me in the shoulder, effectively cutting off my hooting. “What’s wrong?” He turned sharply and sent a very worried-looking Astrid and Fishlegs (plus everyone else, who just looked freaked out) a glare that could kill, hissing menacingly, “Is it _them?_ ”

 

“No, no!” I giggled, shaking my head and grinning widely. I leaned down close to the ground and raised my left leg, extending the claws to their sharpest. Pushing out the claw that would line up with a human’s index finger and curling the others as far as I could, I began to create runes in the dirt perpendicular to myself and the teens, smile deepening when they all let out gasps and crowded in close—even Snotlout. How could I possibly forget that I could _write?!_

 

I sat back up and nodded proudly at my work. Not only would this disprove Astrid’s ridiculous theory of Toothless controlling me—a dragon doesn’t know how to write, so one couldn’t make me do it either—but it would also make communication _so_ much easier...which would eventually disprove _Snotlout’s_ theory that _I_ was controlling Toothless as well. Charades had lost its fun about a minute into our failed attempts at talking to each other.

 

Toothless leaned in, too, though he stayed closer to me than the writings. “Huh?” He asked, raising a brow. “What’s that?”

 

“ _Night Fury can’t fly…I went instead…made truce_?” Astrid read aloud, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

 

“…Huh?” Toothless repeated, giving me an utterly confused and frustrated look. He leaned down closer to the scratches in the dirt (causing all of the others to back up) and sniffed at it, his head tilted to the side. “I don’t understand.”

 

“I can speak to them now,” I told him, grinning proudly as he stared at me in disbelief. After a few seconds, I realized that what I said would make absolutely no sense whatsoever to a dragon and hurried to add, “The symbols mean words.”

 

“Oh,” Toothless said flatly in false understanding, wasting the precious few seconds we had before the others fully processed what exactly my message meant. He still looked confused, and, for a second, looked almost ready to ask another question. But then he hesitated and stopped himself, pulling a stony expression on his face that hid all emotions—except for one. He stared purposely towards the writings, looking as if he were wishing they could self-combust right then and there.

 

There was a moment of silence—but just a moment.

 

Fishlegs exploded into questions first: “How did you make a truce? That’s, like, plus ten intelligence on the Night Fury right there! Do you have _all_ your memories then? Can you talk telepathically with the Night Fury? Because it certainly doesn’t sound like it and you’re only making around fifteen different sounds—oh! Ohohoh! What are your senses like? Is your main sense your sight, smell, or something else? What’s your hearing like? This is amazing! Can you completely understand us?!”

 

He was overlapped easily by Astrid, who asked a simple-yet-loud, “ _Why_ in Odin’s name would you do _any_ of that if it’s not controlling you?!”

 

“How can you trust that _dragon?_ It’s tried to kill us on every raid! And why would you steal instead of asking?” The twins seemed to be on the same page, each asking questions so similar that I couldn’t tell who said what. Even above the chaos, Ruffnut managed to make her raspy, weak voice heard. Both got sidetracked by Fishlegs’ and Astrid’s questions, realizing that they were repeating and paraphrasing what had already been said, and paused for a few seconds. Then they burst into questions of “How did you learn to fly so fast?” and “Do you have fire?” and a quieter, meek “Are you sure you _really_ want to trust the Night Fury?” from Ruffnut.

 

But the loudest of them all—to me—was Snotlout. He spoke quietly in comparison to Astrid and the twins’ yelling match, but directly addressed me, “How could you betray us like that?!”

 

The sudden onslaught of sound from the otherwise _quiet_ situation broke any calm within me. I felt my ears and side-frills bristle for a split second before pressing against my head. Something in the back of my mind told me that extremely loud noises—all delivered at the same time and continuing without mercy—were terrible things to avoid and that I needed to get away _now_.

 

I backed up. My vision slightly doubled and my body staggered backwards—I heard myself give out a shaky moan when I bumped into something (Toothless?)—and then stumbled over something else (…Toothless?)—and somehow ended up only a few feet away, not the several meters I wanted, shaking my head in an attempt to stop a swarm of mixed colors and sounds and hallucinations and double-visions and an absolutely _terrible_ migraine. No matter how hard I pressed my ears against my head, my side-frills seemed to act as receptors to the noise and made me _feel_ the noise more than hear it.

 

The questions died down considerably for a second like fading thunder and picked up just as swiftly as the next boom that would surely follow. I heard concern behind the voices but could not understand anything except that there were _sounds_ coming from all around me. My eyes felt like they were rolling in my head and I began to ignore my vision in an attempt to coordinate myself, focusing more on my hearing and smell. I swayed and bumped into something, possibly for real this time, and yelped in surprise. It felt solid and warm and alive.

 

A familiar, low-pitched voice barked in surprise, “Hiccup!”

                                                     

I turned my head towards it—

 

—and for some reason, the noises had stopped, and the colors were no longer swirling in a tornado around me, and doubles were merging into singles. I blinked, and it was like everything that had confused and knocked me completely off from reality had disappeared. Sometime during what was really only about ten seconds—but felt like a nightmarish ten hours—Toothless had come to stand in front of me and take up a _very_ defensive position.

 

_What just happened?_ I frantically shot through every bit of information on dragons I knew. _What_ was _that?!_

 

In my desperation, I tried to search through the last couple seconds—but all I could decipher was everyone’s first few questions before it all crumbled away. I sat back up on shaky limbs, only just realizing that my legs had collapsed under me.  Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, even Snotlout— _all_ of them—were giving me equal looks of alarm, though the reasons may have varied from person to person.

 

I shook my head again to guarantee that every bit of whatever had struck me was gone. “Ugh,” I moaned, “Toothless, what was that? Did it happen to you, too?”

 

I knew, from observation in dragon raids, that sound had some sort of affect on dragons. I’d see some of the villagers shouting and hitting their shields with their weapons, and a dragon would stall midair or even fall to the ground. But I’d always thought it was from sheer fear alone; not that it actually affected the poor things in _such_ a physical and mental manner.

 

The dragon frowned. “No…I got a headache, but that was it. Are you alright?” He took a step towards me, but I shook my head.

 

“I’m fine,” I reassured him, my ears pressed against my head. Toothless snorted and twisted his head around towards the eerily silent teenagers, baring his teeth at them. This seemed to break the spell over them; Tuffnut moved closer to Ruffnut, who pushed back at him in irritation, Snotlout went back to sending evil looks at Toothless and me, and Astrid and Fishlegs both stared at me in confusion. There was a calculating glimmer inside of Astrid’s eyes that I couldn’t quite place.

 

Taking in a shaky breath, I walked back to the spot I had previously been in. _I have to do this_ , I reminded myself. _We need to come to an understanding, or they’ll tell everyone about Toothless and me._ As I was thinking this, I began to scribble into the ground: “ _One at a_ “—

 

Fishlegs spoke up very quickly, interrupting my sentence. “You get disorientated like other dragons do?” My head snapped up in surprise and I stared disbelieving at him, realizing that he was implying a lot more than just what he’d said. His pale brown eyes were worried and nervous and he tapped his fingers together. “…Hiccup, uh…do you not like getting wet anymore—specifically, your head? And…what do you feel about us being here? Like, do you feel…uh, defensive?” He cringed slightly after saying this. The others looked at me expectantly.

 

I narrowed my eyes and felt my face wrinkle up in pure anger and hurt. “ _What?_ ” I exclaimed. Lowering the volume of my voice, I added, “I _am not_ —“

 

“Can’t understand you,” Ruffnut butted in, sounding a little more anxious than she looked. I watched her for a couple seconds, anger fading away when I realized that she was holding her side and her body was shaking. I was suddenly reminded of the injury she’d sustained, and with it came worry that washed everything else away.

 

What had happened?

 

The female twin scowled at me and I jumped back into reality, realizing that I must have looked like I was just staring at her. I shifted slightly and went to answer the question, hunching over. My handwriting was very shaky and harsh while I wrote it. For a second I wondered if anyone would be able to read it. I didn’t get a chance to fix any mistakes, though; I hadn’t even finished writing before everyone had crowded in once more, making me skip a step back to avoid getting an accidental head-butt from an unsuspecting Tuffnut. Not exactly on my to-do list, considering he was wearing a horned helmet…

 

There was another short, uncomfortable silence while the five read my message: _I am not a full dragon._ _You surprised me._

 

Tuffnut, despite the situation, laughed. “ _Surprised_? You looked drunk to me.” Ruffnut smirked at this and nodded in agreement. In the corner of my vision, I saw the now-silent Toothless tip his head to the side.

 

Snotlout crossed his arms and frowned heavily at me. Any concern for me that he had held had completely disappeared. “He looked like that Gronckle to me. And he should be treated like one.”

 

I blinked.

 

Gronckle?

 

Huh?

 

“What does _that_ mean?” Toothless asked, turning his head towards me but keeping his eyes pinned on my cousin and slowly shifting into an aggressive, ready-to-fight posture. His wings were raised and half-opened, his feet were squared, and his tail was raised high off the ground. I let my rump hit the ground hard and flicked his side with my tail, nodding towards the teens. They had stopped briefly to examine us—well, Toothless—and only calmed down once my actions made it clear there was no danger.

 

“I’m…not quite sure. Uh, stand normally unless you want to get attacked,” I added when I finally took notice of his body language.

 

_“What do you mean?” Astrid asked Snotlout, her voice tight and controlled and unsure. “I know all dragons act that way, but—”_

_“That’s the point!” Snotlout exclaimed._

 

Toothless glared at me. “No. He’s obviously sizing you up. Look at his face and his body posture! He didn’t like you in the first place, but it’s only gotten worse the longer he’s stayed here! I don’t want you to get too trusting with your little _friend_ here and end up with that weapon through your throat.” As he said this, he pushed his wing against my chest and backed up considerably, forcing me to get up and follow him. We stopped several meters away from the others. It was only after that did he somewhat relax his stance.

 

I grimaced. “Snotlout’s _not_ going to do that…” I glanced at him briefly and back to Toothless again. “…I think.”

 

The Night Fury gave me a pointed look. “You think,” he repeated. “See! I was right! You just can’t trust these things! We should make them leave!”

 

_“Well, he still has some of himself left if he can still write,” Astrid pointed out. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “So maybe there’s still some hope.”_

_“What?” Ruffnut and Tuffnut asked in unison, probably having not heard her, or just surprised that she was still standing up for said ‘traitor’; even if she did sound like she was changing her mind._

_Fishlegs hopped into their conversation. “He has his reasons. Just let him say them! We’re wasting time; we have to be back at the village before sundown! And, Astrid,” his voice became flooded with irritation, “you just told us that we shouldn’t be acting like they aren’t even there. So why are we having this conversation?”_

_“No!” Snotlout hissed to Astrid, ignoring everyone else and cutting off her reply. “He’s a traitor!_

 

I groaned and threw my head back a little. “Toothless!” Giving him the most annoyed look I could muster, I moaned, “Have you not been listening?! The reason they’re here is because they saw me steal. If Snotlout is ‘sizing me up’,” I tried to imitate Toothless’ tone of voice when he said that, “then that’s all the more reason to _let_ them stay. If we don’t clear up why I stole, then they’ll just go and tell the whole village that we’re here, and then we’ll get killed!”

 

Toothless grunted, his ears and side-frills twitching and claws extending. “We could always find a way to get me out of here if that were to happen.”

 

I shook my head. “No! If the village knew that we were here, they’d surround the entire cove and _then_ close in. You’d climb out to hoard of angry Vikings with swords and axes and hammers.”

 

_“If the Night Fury can’t fly, then how else would they get food?” Fishlegs’ voice was desperate in his plea to settle the argument. “That must be the reason why Hiccup stole. And you did say he was scared at first, right?”_

_Tuffnut groaned, and there was a sound of someone hitting themselves with the fleshy part of their palm. “This is just too much to take in at once.”_

_“No, it isn’t.” Astrid’s voice was back to its normal volume again. “You’re just over-thinking it. Hiccup stole only because he was hungry and the Night Fury wouldn’t—or couldn’t—do it for him. And he’s obviously human enough to write and to deny being more…dragon-like. I can see why he would do it if the dragon wouldn’t help him.”_

_“And?” Ruffnut pressed. “I still don’t see it as an exception. Hiccup stole: end of story. But the traitor thing may be a little much.”_

 

My dragon friend rolled his eyes again, a gesture from him I was quickly learning to dislike. “One word, my friend: fire.”

 

“ _No!_ ” I scolded him as if I were reprimanding a child. “No fire!” Toothless’ head reared back in surprise; I cut him off before he could say anything. “We shouldn’t even be talking about that, since it’s not going to happen! You agreed to this. You can’t go back on your word just because Snotlout got snobbier than usual!” My ears pinned against my head and I narrowed my eyes halfway.

 

Toothless glared right back. “I can take back my word if I want, esp—“

 

“No, you can’t! You…!—ugh.” I shook my head at the stupid, stubborn Night Fury’s words. “Listen. We’ve already had this argument once. Let’s not have it again. You don’t want to take your attention off of them, right?” I asked sarcastically, nodding towards the other teens that seemed to be engrossed in a conversation of their own, huddled together a short distance away and, ironically, completely ignoring us. “Well, the same goes for them. As long as we don’t attack them, they won’t attack us. Nobody is in danger.”

 

_“No, it isn’t!” Snotlout cried. “He made a truce with the enemy. Why is that so hard for you to get? We should be killing them!”_

_“No, we shouldn’t!” Astrid snapped. “Even if Hiccup made a truce with the Night Fury willingly and stole, we shouldn’t attack. I doubt we would win with that thing so mad at us. And if we did, we’d probably be too hurt to get back to Berk.” There were a few gasps at the usually-confident teenager’s revelation that she didn’t want to fight. But at least that proved that she was competent and humble. In a quieter tone, she added, “And right now, we don’t know for sure which side Hiccup’s on. We’d surely die with two Night Furies out for our blood. Right now, we have to agree and try to be less threatening. Then we can think it over later if we have to.”_

_Tuffnut hummed, gaining everyone’s attention. “What if he made the truce to try and get the Night Fury to turn him back?” He asked vaguely._

_“Doubt it,” Ruffnut bluntly countered. “He could have switched sides just as well, considering he was banished the second_ it _happened. Really, we don’t know anything. But I think it would be safe to say that Hiccup is in the wrong, especially if he doesn’t have any other reasons for the truce except that he wanted to be_ best friends forever! _with that Night Fury. Which may or may not be smart, right?” At this, a few of the others let out sounds of agreement._

_Snotlout tch—ed in response to this. The sound of metal whistling through the air could be faintly heard, but very easily ignored. “Well, I don’t care! I’m going to—“_

_Suddenly, Fishlegs, sounding completely stressed and fed up with the whole situation, spoke up and cut Snoutlout off in a rare act of authority: “That doesn’t mean attack him! Just wait, Snotlout! Don’t you realize that sitting here and throwing accusations around will do nothing? Let Hiccup say his side of the story without sending him dirty looks every few seconds! You know what that would accomplish? An understanding! We’d be able to help him!” He paused, and, still hyped up on his uncharacteristic rant, added, “Really, you have no reason to be any angrier at him than us! What’s the_ matter _with you?”_

_There was a silence after that._

 

The stubborn dragon and I glanced over at the others, still in their own little group and whispering to each other. I heard Snotlout say something harshly at them but couldn’t quite make out what it was—nor did I want to. He sent me an awful glare and spun onto everyone else in their group. All of them (but Astrid) shuffled around nervously, sending wary glances towards Toothless and I.

 

I was about to turn back to said dragon, when, out of _nowhere_ , Fishlegs exploded, ranting off at Snotlout and storming right up to his face, despite being a full head shorter than him. He began to scream at my cousin about his generally rude behavior and—to my great surprise—began to _stand up for me!_

 

An awkward, uncomfortable quiet spread across the entire cove when he had finished, leaving everyone stunned.

 

I gaped at Fishlegs’ outburst; not only was he going out of his way—despite his nervousness with speaking up when he didn’t need to—to defend me, but he was also asking Snotlout exactly what I had been wondering this whole time. But more importantly: he was putting his faith in me to still be ‘good’. He still knew that I was _me_. And this touched me a lot more than I’d ever thought it would. It meant that there was still hope for me if—

 

…if…

 

I wordlessly looked over at Toothless, forcing my facial muscles to relax into nothing more than a startled stare. But it didn’t work; he noticed my distress right away and interpreted it as my reaction to what Fishlegs had said to Snotlout. The dragon glared daggers at my cousin and growled in a very low, quiet tone, pinning his ears and side-frills up against his head. He paused to look at me with an attempted supportive smile—most likely trying to tell me that he wasn’t angry at me and that he was just as done with our argument as I was. While he clearly didn’t know exactly what was going on, he _did_ realize that our fight had become meaningless and that this situation had suddenly become _very_ real for me. And he _cared_. My heart panged.

 

_Would I…_

 

Snotlout recovered from the shock of the speech first, squaring his shoulders and pushing Fishlegs in the chest. “Who are you to talk to me like _that?!_ ” He growled. “What makes you think you’re better than me? Is it because you’re a nerd? Do you think your little books will help you? Why are you even defending him, anyways?” With each question, he pushed Fishlegs roughly back and advanced on him, making the fat Viking stumble backwards.

 

Fishlegs was generally a pushover. But when provoked, he could bite back with teeth of steel. “It’s because he’s obviously _still Hiccup!_ ” Fishlegs cried. “Yes, he stole! He made a mistake! But that doesn’t make him a completely different person! The only reason you hate him so much is because he knocked you down or something and your stupid pride was hurt and now you’re trying to make Hiccup suffer for it!”

 

Snotlout’s response was swift. He reared his arm back and punched Fishlegs right in the gut. I froze in shock, having not expected such a reaction. It was so _unlike_ Snotlout to react that way, especially to someone in the ‘in crowd’. He fought with Tuffnut all the time, but not as brutally as just now. _That_ punch would probably send me reeling if it had been aimed towards my head. Something was _definitely_ wrong with my cousin, but I couldn’t figure it ou—

 

“Hey!” Ruffnut cried, pushing off of her brother and grabbing Snotlout in the arm when our friend doubled over and was left completely vulnerable. “Leave him alone!”

 

Snotlout whipped around at her. “Why should I?! He’s talking about something he knows _nothing_ about!” He snarled at her, yanking his arm back and causing the weak twin to stumble. Tuffnut was at her side in an instant, using his body as a leaning post for his sister and physical block from Snotlout. He squared his feet and clenched his fists, teeth bared in a strangely animalistic fashion.

 

“Don’t you _dare_ do anything to my sister,” The blonde threatened in a voice that could have easily matched Toothless’ growling in ferocity. “Not everyone is going to agree with you.” His voice was low and even, so strange for him that it actually made Tuffnut sound _scary._

 

I looked over at Astrid—and jumped when I saw that she was staring right back at me, ignoring the fight with only a trace of surprise on her face. She wore a heavy frown on her face, uncertain, and she seemed like she was at a loss with what to do with the bickering teenagers. Whether it was because she didn’t know who she was siding with or she just didn’t want to get involved, I didn’t know. Either way, I knew that I was completely unnerved by it and _really_ wished that the Astrid from earlier was here instead of this one. She’d suddenly changed after I’d written in the ground—and for the worse. It was…unsettling. And the worst part was that I’m pretty sure I know why: she’d asked me if I was under a spell. She thought I was being controlled, and when she realized I wasn’t and still had managed to befriend Toothless…

 

I became the enemy.

 

“Yeah? Well, that doesn’t matter, because _I’m_ right!” Snotlout shouted, dragging my attention back into the fight. “Hiccup _chose_ to do _all_ of this, so he’s a traitor and deserves to die! Even Astrid agrees with me!”

 

“No, she doesn’t!” Fishlegs exclaimed, shaking his head wildly and grimacing as he forced himself to stand up.

 

“Yes, she does!” Snotlout managed to get out before Fishlegs had even finished his sentence.

 

"Hey!” Astrid turned on him. “Don’t say I did something I didn’t!”

 

And thus, a round of “No! Yes! No! Yes!”’s started, with everyone shouting accusations and defenses that did nothing but spin the argument in and endless circle. Snotlout, like all Vikings, wouldn’t back down, and arrogantly argued against each and every single one of others. There was a trace of panic in his voice. It didn’t take long for their delightful conversation to reach a point where everyone was shouting at a deafening volume. I was suddenly grateful for the distance Toothless had pushed between us and the gang; if I’d been at my previous position, I would have had the same sound-induced malfunction as before.

 

I shook my head, growing aggravated with all of the fights. I was so _done_ with them! If I had known that so many arguments would come up with this confrontation, I would have just hidden! I’d never expected _any_ of them to be _this_ affected. “Guys, come on!” I tried, but was completely ignored. To my disdain, the teenagers—now completely at war with each other, shouting sentences that could barely be heard over the next—became even _louder._ “Guys! Seriously, this is so pointless, it’s not even funny! I mean, it kinda was at the beginning, but now it’s just---ugh! _Guys!_ ”

 

Toothless snorted besides me. “You need to learn to assert your dominance,” he seriously told me, “if you ever want them to listen to you and actually believe you. You’re acting like a subordinate underling, which makes your word worth nothing. Underlings get eaten in the real world. Watch.”

 

I’d barely been able to think the words “ _oh, no_ ”. In a flash, the Night Fury had jumped a full body-length forward, crouched to the Vikings’ eye-level, and screeched louder than anything else I’d ever heard before, “ _QUIET !_ ” A flock of birds sprang to life overhead and an owl gave out a low call in the resounding silence

 

In an instant, the teenagers had teamed up together, all weapons were pointed at Toothless, and I was rushing to stand between him and everyone else, wings and tail flailing to keep me from falling over. I gasped and finally straightened out so that each wing was half-stretched and facing each opposing group, acting as an effective barrier. There were several tense moments in which I thought the teens—or, at least, Snotlout—would attack, which would cause Toothless to go after them as well.

 

The stillness of the cove was constricting.

 

I waited a couple more seconds and plopped down into a sitting position with a sigh. Slowly, the others lowered their weapons and Toothless shifted behind me into a hopefully less-aggressive position.

 

I couldn’t help but stare at Astrid, taking note of the distrust in her eyes. A quick scan over the rest of the group showed that all of them, except Fishlegs, did not look like they were exactly happy with me. For a moment, I truly hated Snotlout; he’d managed to make almost an entire group of people think of me as an opponent despite pissing them off. Now I would be lucky to convince them to not tell the village about mine and Toothless’ hiding spot

 

_This isn’t going nearly as well as I wanted it to_ , I moaned to myself. _What should I do? I don’t want them to get even_ angrier _at me!_

 

“Well, are you going to do anything?” Toothless impatiently asked from behind. I felt him push me in the small of my back. “I’m pretty sure staring at them isn’t going to help.”

 

I would have been annoyed if Toothless didn’t sound, for some reason…worried? A swift glance over my shoulder showed nothing out of the ordinary. But, to my immense relief, the dragon had somehow gotten the message through all the arguing and screaming and was giving the group of teenagers a significantly less hostile look.

 

I nodded at him and twisted my neck around to look back at everyone else. Doing my best to ignore the repulsion-filled gaze Snotlout was giving me and the slowly-diminishing trust in the others’ eyes as they began to _really_ think about their little debate, I bent down and began to scratch terribly-written runes into the earth again. I heard the shuffling of feet and saw five pairs of boots walk into my peripheral vision, quickly followed by shadows as all of them leaned over and tried to read my message before I’d actually finished it. (Have I mentioned that, along with being hard-headed and stubborn, Vikings are impatient? Of course, I don’t count, but I was never really one of them in the first place…)

 

After at least a minute of me trying my best to write decipherable words with my clumsy ‘natural pencil’, I finally finished the sentences that would—hopefully—clear things up.

 

Astrid was kind enough to read them aloud for Toothless’, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut’s sake (even though the latter two could read but avoided it like the devil): “ _Please, don’t fight…If you don’t attack him, then he won’t attack you…I admit that it was wrong of me to steal, but the only other option was to starve since the Night Fury can’t fly and I can. There is no controlling going on here._ ”

 

She hadn’t even taken in another breath before her head whipped up and she pointed her axe at me, demanding, “Even so, why would you bring the food back to _him_?” Toothless snarled behind me, causing me to jump, but Astrid didn’t move an inch. At my hesitation, she pressed, “ _Well?_ It makes no sense that you, the victim, would pass up the chance to kill off the thing that did this to you! And without any effort!”

  
Toothless suddenly became very quiet.

 

I felt my lips press together in a grim line. I could see her point…but how could I explain how Toothless wasn’t what she thought he was when she was thinking in _that_ mindset? It would make me look like a traitor, which I wasn’t. But I wasn’t going to lie and say I was doing it to trick him. But I couldn’t say that it was because we were friends…couldn’t I? Surely they’d attack—or, at least, Snotlout would. And then it would go downhill, and Toothless and I would be dead within days.

 

_Ugh, this is all such a big mess!_ I bent over again, barely having come to a decision, and wiped out my previous sentences with my paw. I hesitated for a moment, and then began writing:

 

_I couldn’t leave him to die. Fishlegs is right about us speaking; we managed to come to a truce. He would teach me to fly and wouldn’t attack anyone else, and in return, I would bring back food. He’s mad because you attacked me. You aren’t in danger._

 

I smiled in approval at this. I wasn’t lying and I wasn’t making it sound like I’d up and abandoned them all. Plus, it let them know that I could convince Toothless to not attack anyone—even though they’d seen me do it before but could have just blown it off as me being overprotective—and that he was not just a mindless killing machine. On top of all of that, it eased them into the ‘he’s an actual person’ concept instead of flat-out telling them.

 

To tell the truth, though…the main reason I was so satisfied with those sentences was because I was _dying_ to tell them the truth. I was sick of the tricks, mind games, and distrust. I just wanted a _peaceful_ understanding. Too hard to ask? Maybe. But at least I have _some_ hope.

 

Fishlegs beamed at my confirmation about dragon communication, jabbering about it until Tuffnut stared him down and he quieted. Astrid blinked and jerked her head back, angrily (angry?) flicking a strand of hair out of her eyes. I felt most of the hope I had dissipate.

 

“Why _not?_ That wasn’t nearly a proper answer!” My cousin nearly shouted. “What, so that _monster_ teaches you how to fly so it can _use_ you for food, and you decide that you want to let it live? Have you forgotten what it’s done to you? Or your tribe? Or your _father?_ How do you think it affects _my family?_ Our fathers _are_ brothers, you know!” He pointed an accusing finger at me. I was so shocked that I didn’t even notice that it was inches from my face, and that Toothless was letting out the most terrible noise I’d ever heard. “Admit it! You’ve only thought about yourself and that dragon! That means you’re no longer one of us!”

 

I slowly shook my head, jaw hitting the dirt. Snotlout responded with a glare that would send the gods running. And, now that I _really_ looked, I could see that the resentment towards me was only the surface of what he was feeling; it was suddenly obvious that Snotlout had taken a much more direct hit from this entire thing than anyone else here besides me. While Spitelout, my uncle and his father, had been about as close to me as my Dad and I, I could still see that he had cared for me. He’d be upset about it, too…and, maybe, Snotlout had been as well. When we were little kids, we had actually been good friends before it became apparent that I was a failure as a Viking.

 

_He’s right,_ I weakly admitted to myself. _I didn’t even bother to worry about how they’re coping after my first day, I only focused on myself…but…Dad banished me…_ I squeezed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth, lowering my head in shame. _…but Dad isn’t the entire village…what else was I supposed to do, though? Starve? Let_ Toothless _starve?_ The thought sent shudders down my spine. If I didn’t regret one thing, it was befriending Toothless. He was so much _more_ than we’d realized. If only they would try to understand—!

 

Said dragon poked me in the shoulder with his nose. “Are you going to let him talk to you like that?” The dragon’s voice quivered with barely-constricted fury. “ _Nobody_ has the right to do that. Except me.” When I still didn’t respond, he snarled, “I _swear_ to the _Dragoness of the Moon—!_ ”

 

With the mentioning of the dragon goddess of death, I finally snapped back to reality. “No!” I turned my heard sharply towards his but didn’t bother to raise it. Toothless held his ground besides me, uncaring of the angry Vikings only about a meter away from him and myself. His face was set with determination; determination to protect me. I stared at him for a couple seconds, transfixed…and accidentally broke a link I hadn’t even known had formed. For a second, it was like Toothless and I were the only ones in the cove, and all emotions—hate, fear, desperation, nervousness—were drifting through the air like the wind.

 

It was disorientating, to say the least.

 

“Are you going to answer him?” Astrid suddenly demanded, her voice as sharp as a sword.

 

I jumped and raised my head, taking notice of how Toothless did the same. Lamely glancing between Astrid and Snotlout, I couldn’t tell what was worse: the fact that Snotlout positively _hated_ me right now, or that Astrid was quickly reverting back to the previous way she treated me—not willing to go near me if she was on fire and I was the only person holding a bucket of water. My ears pricked when I heard Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut go into their own conversation; something about me, presumably, since they were shooting discreet glances at the four of us doing all of the talking and apparently coming to a universal decision to stay out of it and watch. I’d have rolled my eyes at how smug Tuffnut looked at not having to do any work if the situation had been less serious.

 

I looked back at Snotlout and winced. His face remained smug and arrogant and cruel. The way he was standing, with his arms crossed, sword casually resting in the nook of his elbow, and feet squared, looked odd. He was treating me exactly how any other Viking would treat a traitor, but it almost seemed like a front. I swallowed heavily, blinking rapidly. _Gods_ , I felt so _guilty…_

 

I centered myself to fully face my cousin for the first time to fully address him. He realized this and his position faltered slightly, along with the grip on his sword tightening to a noticeable extent. My breath caught in my throat and it took a moment for me to remind myself that he was standing in a non-threatening position on purpose. No sane person would casually hold a sword like that, in a position where a swift movement from them would cause self-harm, without reason. It was very possible that this was Snotlout’s subtle chance for me. Maybe the only window of opportunity I would have. And if I blew it…

 

…well, let’s not think of that, okay?

 

I took a deep breath, trying in vain to loosen the tightened muscles of my body that already knew what I was going to do, and making sure I had recollected my nerves.

 

I closed my eyes and leaned right into Snotlout, pressing my forehead against his neck and chest. My wings were drooped and tail fallen to the ground, ears nearly pressed against my head and curving inwards a little. There was a unanimous gasp of shock (and horror, in Toothless’ case).

 

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

 

Snotlout dropped his sword and it tilted over his elbow and to the earth, where it clattered to the dirt by my handwriting with a sharp _clang!_ On instinct, his hands flew up to my cheekbones, forcing my back to arch and make me cringe away. I slowly opened my eyes, getting a pleasant view of Snotlout’s dirt-and unidentified-substance-stained shirt. My body screamed at me to flee, but I didn’t dare move.

 

Snotlout carefully pushed my head up to his eye level, making my entire body rattle when his fingers flexed and strayed too close to my neck for comfort. By some sort of miracle, I managed to hold still and gaze calmly into Snotlout’s cerulean eyes, easily noticing the downwards angles of his eyebrows and the way he bit his lower lip.

 

I felt like time had stopped. _Nobody_ moved. It seemed like the gods themselves had stopped the wind to watch. The wildlife around us, having been its regular volume the entire time the others were here, suddenly grew very quiet and still. The lake grew silent and the clouds overhead slowed down to a subtle crawl.

 

My cousin lowered his eyes, his hands limp against my cheekbones. Staring at the ground, he let his arms fall to his side and backed away. Then he turned around…and began to walk…

 

“Snotlout?” I trailed off and took a sharp intake of air when he started to sprint away. Despair filled my core, and I shrieked, “ _Snotlout!_ ”

 

Astrid and the others all began to shout out to him as well. The burly teenager stopped abruptly, palms clenching and unclenching and body shaking. I cried out to him again, desperate now, heart sinking to my stomach. With his back still turned to us, Snotlout shook his head fiercely and brought his hands up to rub it. It was almost as if he’d been struck.

 

Slowly, he continued to walk away, only stopping when he reached the crack in the cove where the group had entered. There, he sat down, still not facing us, and held his head by his ears and hunched over his knees.

 

My mouth hung open limply. I took a deep breath to steady myself, entire body shaking. _What did I do wrong?_ I desperately tried to think of what was going through his mind to do that…but couldn’t. In truth, I really didn’t know Snotlout well at all.

 

I lowered my head and hunched over in defeat, rubbing my eyes. _Great. Just great_ , I thought bitterly. _Not only does my only cousin hate me for reasons I barely know, but now there’s nothing holding him back from telling the village about Toothless and myself. We’re_ dead. _Ugh, the gods must_ despise _me. What did I do wrong?_ I asked myself once again. I drew a complete blank.

 

I’m not sure how much time passed. One minute I was in a state of mental numbness that I couldn’t fight off, and the next…

 

“Ignore him, Hiccup,” Fishlegs huffed, stepping forward with new confidence. “He just doesn’t know how to take it all in.” I raised my head and gazed at him warily, unable to relax even when he gave me a tentative smile. Too many things were rushing through my head all at once, and I couldn’t keep track of them all. I just wanted to go off somewhere nice and quiet to think.

 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with him,” Toothless spoke up for the first time in quite awhile. I gave him a shocked look, which he sniffed at and smirked. “What? I am a _sensible_ dragon. Unlike _him_ ,” he nodded at Snotlout, “I can accept situations when I realize the reasons behind them.” He paused, and added much more quietly, “I…don’t quite understand why you’re as attached to him as the female, but I am sorry.” With that, he gave me what was supposed to be an encouraging head-butt, but felt like an… _actual_ head-butt. I flinched and gave him a mocking glare, unintentionally taking the bait.

 

“Thanks, that felt really nice,” I told him in monotone. Toothless just gave me a toothy grin with a knowing look in his eyes that I couldn’t place.

 

“And he’s a douche bag,” Ruffnut added when nobody else spoke up, unable to take the tension any longer and obviously still upset over his earlier treatment of Fishlegs. I cracked a small grin, a real one only forming when the other three—even Astrid—made noises of exasperated agreement. Toothless snorted and mumbled to himself something about renaming Snotlout that, which in turn caused me to laugh.

 

I didn’t feel better at all, but at least I knew I had _some_ support. If I didn’t, then they would’ve followed Snotlout. I glanced over at him to see that he was in the exact same position as before. _Maybe…Fishlegs is right. Maybe he just needs some time to process it all?_ I thought with fake hope. A voice in the back of my mind helpfully informed me that Snotlout, being the biggest grudge-holder in the world, would probably never get over this. I chose to ignore it.

 

Astrid stepped closer to me than ever before, only about a yard away from me. My neck hurt looking down at her. “Anyways…we’ll just get on with this without him. Hiccup,” she scowled at Toothless for a second and then returned her sharp blue eyes back on me, “you said you ‘couldn’t leave him to die’. What _exactly_ made you make up your mind like _that?_ ” She brushed a stray piece of hair out of her forehead and looked at me with such scrutiny that I had to avoid eye contact.

I briefly glanced over at Toothless, who currently had resumed his defensive crouch in preparation for some awful circumstance that only he could come up with. He wasn’t reacting otherwise.

 

“Hurry up!” Tuffnut impatiently commanded. “We don’t have all day, you know.” His casual smile suddenly fell and he looked over his shoulder in uncertainty, staring at Snotlout for a long second.

 

I did as I was told, scratching nearly incomprehensible runes in the earth faster than ever, feeling like I was about to lose another person who still had some faith in me. I paused halfway into the message, debating with myself. If I told them that I’d befriended Toothless…surely they would abandon me and tell the villagers about he cove. With a shake of my head, I continued to write in the same careful way I’d always been, skirting around the truth by a hair. It didn’t help that my entire body was _still_ shaking.

 

Fishlegs leaned around Astrid, refusing to leave his position between the twins and Toothless. “’ _Like I said we made a truce, he spared me and I spared him, and he doesn’t act anything like you’d think he would. Please, I beg you and I know it’s hard but I need you all to trust me._ ” He read it so fast, I wouldn’t have known a single word he said had I not been reading along with him. The obese Viking looked up at me with wide eyes, but said nothing.

 

“So you… _befriended_ it?” Astrid placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at me. “What about that makes you think we should trust you?” Ruffnut nodded in agreement, followed by Tuffnut. Fishlegs was the only one who seemed to have some faith in me. I didn’t know exactly why he was so kind—probably in favor of a close friendship we used to have, still somehow wanting to connect to me but unable to if he wanted to be ‘popular’—but I was thankful to the gods that he was here. If not…then this meeting would end up disastrously.

 

I focused on the ground, once again forced to write out a vague—yet truthful—statement. If I even dared use the word ‘friend’ and ‘Night Fury’ in the same sentence, it would be all over. The little shard of trust Astrid had in me would be shattered, and she’d join Snotlout. It wouldn’t take long for the others to cave and follow her lead. Even Fishlegs, bless his attempts to be understanding, would choose them over me—the supposed ‘traitor’. Or, maybe I really was…

 

The thoughts were violently pushed aside. I couldn’t doubt myself. And they absolutely could not know about my relationship with Toothless other than our truce. It would be the death of us. And I would _not_ allow that!

 

I’d just finished writing my sentence when a sudden thought seemed to come to the lovely blonde. She ignored my message, which was really just a repetition of all of my other ‘we made a truce’ statements, and began to speak.

 

“Oh, and there’s something that has been bothering me. I don’t usually pay attention to dragons’ antics, Hiccup, but I _know_ that you’ve acted more like one and less like a human several times in the past. What’s keeping you from being one of _them?_ ” Astrid’s brilliant blue eyes didn’t have a trace of sympathy in them. Toothless’ growling faded, a sole breeze blew, and the others stopped in their little conversations with each other. Far back, still near the cove’s entrance, Snotlout turned slightly and looked over his shoulder.

 

Toothless groaned. “Ugh, _this_ again. Good going, _female,_ ” he hissed at Astrid.

 

I stared, speechless, not even registering what Toothless had just said. Of course I knew I’d been acting dragon-like…but to have it pointed out to me and **_accused_** by someone who’d seen me for a grand total of about three hours in this body…it was a slap to the face. Reality’s nice way of telling me to pay attention and stop using sarcasm and bad jokes as a shield for once. And I didn’t like it.

 

I’d been avoiding the unfortunate fact for as long as I could, even when it had been brought up earlier today. I’d pushed it off, telling myself I’d think about it later; and it was coming back to bite me. I didn’t know how to respond. Once again, I suddenly found myself in doubt of my already-fragile humanity. Most important of all: I had no idea if I was losing myself. Once Toothless had come along, and he’d taught me to fly, and he’d told me about his religion and stories of the ancient past in the drowsy minutes before we’d fallen asleep, my resolve to be ‘human’ had started to…waver. And he’d become an unintentional influence on me.

 

A realization struck me hard: Toothless had known. He’d dropped hints to me and I’d ignored them. My thoughts began to become scattered and frantic.

 

How exactly did I feel about this? Why, for the second time today, could I not answer that important question?

 

Was I turning into a dragon? My heart sank when I couldn’t bring myself to say “ _No_ ” right away. I was changing at an immense speed and didn’t know how to react to it. I couldn’t just turn around and return to normal, though; the deed was done, and the window was closed.

 

And I wasn’t quite sure if it upset me more that I hadn’t seen this question coming, though now it was obvious I should have, or the fact that I wasn’t feeling too remorseful about it when I began to really think about it. Especially when compared to my reaction to being changed on that terrible first day.

 

I lowered my eyes from Astrid’s, unable to take the calculating spark in them any more. I had no answer. Everything I could think of had an easy defense. My humanity? Well, where did that go when I attacked Snotlout in mindless terror and fed the ‘enemy’? My knowledge of my human past? I was banished, so what significance would that hold other than fuel for more anger and hurt, speeding up the ‘process’? How could I possibly convince someone like Astrid when I’d stolen right in front of her with no reason other than to help myself and the enemy?

 

“Stay back!”

 

I pulled myself to attention, raising my head and twisting to face Toothless as quickly as I could. He was baring his teeth and snarling at something, one paw raised in a ready-to-swipe position and wings extended. Confusion and fear hit me hard, and my mind immediately rushed to one outcome: _someone is attacking us._

 

But when I turned around towards the teenagers, backing up slightly, they were all in the same positions as before. Except for Fishlegs.

 

I could only stare in stunned silence as he meaningfully walked right up to me, determination stronger in his body language than I’d seen in my entire life, even when we used to be best friends. He curved his body to face the others and gave them a meaningful, pointed look. “Enough. This misunderstanding gone on far too long.”

 

I’d barely had time to process what he was trying to do when his hand appeared _far_ too close for comfort, right in the middle of my vision. I hesitated, pulling my head back a few inches and glancing up at Fishlegs. He gave me a small smile...one that made me want to trust him.

 

And one second later, he placed his hand right on my muzzle. The exact spot that instincts I didn’t know I had told me I could snap his hand off in milliseconds.

 

As with Snotlout, my entire body tensed and my back arched upon human contact. My ears and side-frills pressed against my head, my eyes widened, and I shifted my feet so that I could jump away if I needed. Toothless screeched in outrage besides me, pawing at the dirt and glowering at Fishlegs with such intensity that, for a second, I half-expected him to burst into flames.

 

The second the shock of the action wore off, Toothless seemed to decide that _that_ was where he crossed the line; he jumped forward, knocked Fishlegs’ hand off of my snout with a paw, and proceeded to grab me by my scruff and drag me away. I gave out a wordless cry of resistance, struggling to be set free and utterly humiliated by how my body went limp from instinct. In the background, I could hear Ruffnut and Tuffnut laughing and making ‘jealous dragon’ jokes, something about Fishlegs being the third wheel in a seriously-screwed-up fantasy world.

 

“Thaf ‘s it!” The dragon growled through his muffled mouthful of… _me_. Sigh. “ _Why_ wouf ‘ou lef ‘em _‘oo that?!_ ”

 

I broke free of Toothless’ hold and rounded on him. “Stop it!” I yelled, tail whipping and crouching low. The dragon gave me a deadpan, irritated look; one that I would always see on Gobber when I asked him a rhetorical question that he didn’t get or just said something stupid. With this, my face burned even more with embarrassment and anger. Fishlegs was trying to prove something, and now Toothless had gone and ruined it with his overprotectiveness—!

 

“ _See?!_ This proves my point!”

 

—or not.

 

Both of us halted our slightly-prepared speeches and gave a _very_ proud-looking Fishlegs identically confused looks. He had his bulky arms crossed, hazel eyes twinkling, and a grin threatening to tear his face in half. The twins still looked amused at their jokes, but I could see that Astrid was wholly trying to comprehend what had happened. And even from my distance away from him, I noticed that Snotlout was still half-turned towards us, looking as confused and wary as Astrid.

 

Fishlegs turned to me and waved towards him, a gesture to walk over. I paused, giving Toothless a look that I hoped said ‘ _don’t screw this up_ ’. He just snorted and jerked his head to the side disdainfully.

 

I did as I was told, the Night Fury reluctantly following behind, and obediently stood besides Fishlegs. _Oh please let him convince them, oh please gods I need a break, oh please let this work._

 

“What do you mean?” Astrid asked cautiously, shifting to put all of her weight on one leg. I relaxed at the non-threatening posture, and, for once, Toothless didn’t decide to hiss at her.

 

Fishlegs waved at me and Toothless. “Didn’t you see the huge differences in their reactions? That Night Fury,” he pointed at Toothless, making the dragon perk up and wrinkle his face, “nearly attacked me just for _touching_ Hiccup—not _it_. It was aggressive, and protective, and, like, plus five defensiveness. But _Hiccup_ ,” he turned to me and grinned, pointing an open palm at me like I was a showcasing, “not only let me touch the most dangerous spot on his body, his mouth—oh, by dangerous, I mean he could have easily burned or bitten my hand off before I could have reacted, since Night Furies must have plus _fifteen_ speed and—nevermind. Anyways, he let me keep it there, and even though he was scared, he didn’t move until the _Night Fury_ moved me for him.”

 

“And?” Ruffnut asked dryly with a flat face.

 

“That means?” Tuffnut continued in the same tone with a slightly raised eyebrow.

 

Fishlegs slumped a little at their lack of understanding. I, on the other hand, was cheering on the inside. It took all I had to _not_ butt him in the back, for fear of knocking him over and ruining his ‘Hiccup’s not a dragon’ argument.

 

“Well,” he tapped his fingers together a couple times and regathered his courage. “It means that Hiccup is still _Hiccup_. He can write, understand us, and let us touch him without freaking out or attacking us. And he _apologized_ to Snotlout. That’s unheard of with dragons; my book says they just fight to the death when they don’t agree. A normal dragon that could somehow understand what was going on would have killed Snotlout, since he was the enemy. _That’s_ why I’ve been defending him!” Fishlegs turned to me, beaming, and continued, “You shouldn’t have stolen because it doesn’t take much to realize that we’d come back, but,” he returned to addressing the others, “it’s understandable, and it still means that he is human.”

 

Tuffnut looked over his shoulder again for a split second. “Well, not all the way. You said earlier that his, uh, actions in the shed was what a dragon would have done. What changed your mind?” He gave a coy smirk at Fishlegs, as if daring him to respond.

 

Fishlegs’ argument was swift and certain; he’d known this question would come up, and had prepared an answer. “Yes, Hiccup has acted like a dragon in the past, but what can you expect? He _is_ in dragon form. But his human traits outweigh his draconic, and I _know_ he’s truly sorry about the entire storage shed incident, as I’ve already mentioned how he let himself be vulnerable in front of Snotlout. This also means that I know, _without a doubt_ ,” he raised his voice loudly at this, turning to face Snotlout, who had his arm crossed and was scowling at us, “that Hiccup is not a traitor! We’ve all done _something_ wrong in our lives. If you told me you’ve never stolen anything, then you’d be lying, too. Especially about a certain something yesterday.” He added when Tuffnut opened his mouth with an aggravated expression.

 

The male twin’s mouth clicked shut, and his female counterpart burst out laughing.

 

“Busted!” She chuckled, punching him lightly in the chest. Tuffnut rubbed the spot dramatically and scowled.

 

“Don’t tell me you stole _another_ model catapult. You don’t even know how to use _or_ make one!” Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation and shook her head.

 

“That’s not true, I do! And they’ll come in handy someday! Just wait and see!” Tuffnut whole-heartedly defended himself, face red and eyebrows twitching. “…and now, I didn’t steal one,” he added on in embarrassment. This caused the others to laugh at him.

 

Using this tiny exchange to my advantage, I began to scratch a sentence in the dirt. A surge of excitement shot through my body as I did; Fishlegs’ argument had been clear and truthful. He’d managed to say his opinion in such a way that even I found myself wanting to agree with him. And from the hesitation in Astrid, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut’s expressions, I could see that another window had been opened while one had been shut.

 

The thing I was most excited about, though, was that Fishlegs had managed to inadvertently give me some answers to questions that I had been slaving over. I couldn’t help it; when he put so much trust in the reasons behind my behaviors, I began to feel the same way.

 

He’s right. I’m _not_ a traitor. I’m **_not_** _._ People make _mistakes._ That’s what I _did_. I…made a mistake…yes, I made a mistake.

 

Toothless leaned down next to me while I was writing, making it very clear that he didn’t feel the same way as I did. “Please tell me you’re telling them to leave,” he whispered.

 

“No, I’m not,” I quietly told him as I finished my message. “I’m making sure they don’t come back with the intent to kill. You have to at least not hiss at them all the time or they’re not going to believe me and we’ll _both_ be doomed.”

 

Toothless’ harsh look softened. He frowned deeply at the writing, longing flashing in his eyes. “Are you _sure_ you know what you’re doing?”

 

“Yes,” I said with resolve. “I just needed to show them I’m still me and I can be trusted, and, thank the gods, Fishlegs did that for me. We’re done with the hard part.”

 

Toothless sighed. “If you say so,” he mumbled, pulling back. “I just wish…” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

 

I smiled at him after I’d straightened my own posture. “We’re going to be fine.”

 

Toothless blinked at me several times, surprise easily readable on his face. He hesitantly returned the grin and turned his gaze to the teenagers, lime green eyes resting on Fishlegs. He stared at the one Viking who’d put faith in me for a long time, and then looked over at me again. “I’m glad he made you feel better. He…he seemed to help you.”

 

He’d said it so softly, I’d barely heard him. But, by some miracle, I had. I grinned at Toothless, the first one I’d done since the teenagers got here. “Thanks.”

 

“ _Hey!_ Hiccup wrote something else!” Ruffnut suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the ground and completely ruining the moment. She abandoned her brother and scrambled over with Fishlegs and Astrid. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem very well-adjusted to walking on her own, and tripped over her feet, falling right onto…Toothless, who’d _also_ stepped forward to get closer to me.

 

The dragon recoiled like she was a demon, hissing loudly. Ruffnut stumbled back into Tuffnut’s arms, who quickly pulled her away, and Astrid and I got ready to stop a possible attack. Toothless looked like he was actually going to for a second, death radiating off of him through his body language—and then he stopped, jolting in place. He gave me a sidelong glance and sighed, backing up and sourly licking the areas that Ruffnut’s hands and body had stumbled upon, sending her an evil look the entire time.

 

I couldn’t help but grin when I faced Astrid, Fishlegs, and the twins again. They were all crowded around the message that would—hopefully—convince them that all was well right now.

 

“’ _It is true that I have changed, but I am still me. I’m not going to turn into a traitor, I swear to the gods. I just need your trust and mercy right now. I’ll do anything._ ’” Astrid mumbled. She blinked and looked up at me, her mouth a straight line, and brushed that one stray strand of hair that always fell in front of her face behind her ear.

 

Fishlegs smiled again, probably the happiest out of all of us. Ruffnut looked more relieved than anything, and Tuffnut had a mischevious grin across his face.

 

“ _Anything?_ ” The male twin drawled, rubbing his hands together. “You could help me catch babes! Oh, and helping me become the ultimate warrior wouldn’t hurt.”

 

“Ultimate warrior my ass,” Ruffnut rolled her eyes and smirked. “You got tackled by a Terrible Terror today. And it _won._ ” She cackled.

 

“No I didn’t! I just let it, so, uh, you wouldn’t feel bad about being hurt and sitting out!”

 

“I’m pretty sure you didn’t.”

 

“Well, I’m pretty sure I did!”

 

“Right. Well, _I’m_ pretty sure that you—“

 

Astrid grabbed the horn on Tuffnut’s head and yanked it back, effectively cutting off their argument. He promptly fell to the ground, yelling about how hurt he was, and she grabbed onto Ruffnut before she could fall. The two stared at each other for a second—Astrid pleading, and Ruffnut angry—until the latter finally relaxed and gave the former a calm smile and leaned fully on her.

 

“How graceful,” Toothless commented darkly. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see him give Astrid a surprisingly feral smile that could _almost_ pass for _something_ humanlike.

 

“Oh, shut up, kitten,” Astrid commanded wryly, much to mine and Ruffnut’s amusement. Fishlegs, on the other hand, cracked a wary grin and moved to stand in front of the two girls. Not exactly an overreaction, considering Toothless had taken several steps forward and snarled as loudly as he could, adding a strange hissing noise in to make it sound generally frightening.

 

“Speaking of which,” Astrid straightened and suddenly became serious. “Even if we can trust you for now, what about Mr. Cranky over there? Even if Snotlout’s right about you controlling him or something, he’s still a threat.”

 

I shook my head, even though I couldn’t keep the relief out of my face and body posture. _Astrid_ had said “even if we can trust you”. That meant that she’d _finally_ accepted the situation!

 

Feeling much less stressed and more thankful than anything, I crouched down and began to write: ‘ _I never controlled him in the first place. He’s willingly holding himself back now, and knows the consequences of attacking._ ’

 

Fishlegs gave me a startled look. “He knows the situation? Like the possible outcomes?” At my nod, the nerdy Viking’s jaw dropped, flabbergasted. “ _Wow!_ That’s, like…I’m speechless, that’s, like, amazingly intelligent! I don’t even know how to put a number on that! I just thought he knew the general idea, but not specifics!”

 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut seemed to accept this, but still, Astrid looked doubtful.

 

“I don’t know…” she trailed off, turned her head to look at Snotlout. I tensed when she took a step back. When she took another, I let out a loud chirp and shook my head, bending down and scribbling as fast as I could in the dirt. I _refused_ to let another person walk away.

 

Fishlegs read it once and then repeated it very loudly, most likely so that my cousin would hear. “’ _Please, I made a mistake. We were hungry and he couldn’t get anything, and I didn’t even know how to hunt in my human body. It was the only way and I swear to the gods that it won’t happen again_.’”

 

Far back, Snotlout stood up, holding his hands behind his neck and pacing back and forth. I tried to catch his eye, but he refused to look at any of us—even Astrid. He looked terribly upset. An immense wave of sadness rushed through me at his distress, followed by an unmistakable feeling that it was all my fault.

 

You could almost see Astrid’s resolve wavering. I gazed at her pleadingly, trying my best to get across how _sorry_ I was.

 

“I believe him,” Fishlegs confidently announced. He looked me in the eye and held out a hand to me. “You swear?”

 

I fixed my eyes on his and nodded, sitting down and bringing my paw up to rest in his hand. I could just barely make my claws and underdeveloped ‘thumb’ wrap around Fishlegs’ wrist and lower arm. We both ‘shook hands’, with him doing all the work and me doing my level best to not accidentally claw and/or bruise him. His skin felt so _fragile…_

 

“I believe him, too,” Tuffnut piped up, quickly followed by Ruffnut saying the same thing. The male twin held out his own hand to me. I blinked in surprise at his immediate willingness to touch me. Hesitating slightly, I held up my own arm and clutched his the same way as I’d done to Fishlegs, constantly reminding myself to not even _flex_ my claws in fear of hurting him. Instead of shaking my hand like I’d expected, though, he slid his hand from my grasp and fisted it. Then the twin gently punched me where my ‘knuckles’ would be, just above my claws. I felt my ears stand straight up. A fist bump? _That_ was unexpected. Nobody had done that to me in _years_ , not since Fishlegs had ‘switched sides’, so to speak. It felt very encouraging, and I couldn’t stop a goofy grin from spreading across my face.

 

I chuckled, giving Toothless a sidelong glance to see how he was reacting to all of this touching. His eyebrows were higher than I though biologically possible, utter disbelief written all across his face. When the dragon realized that I’d started watching him, he purposefully jerked his head to the side, towards Snotlout. I got the message loud and clear, through language and our strange bond: _They’ve agreed to trust us. Now make them leave._

 

I nodded at him hesitantly. There was still one more thing that I needed to do, and then this would be perfect. We’d somehow managed to fix everything!

 

Astrid was still where she’d been standing, watching me warily. I slowly walked over to her, pausing when I passed the other three and got within range of the axe that she’d never released. With a deep breath, I continued until I was right in front of her. I stared down at her and cautiously raised my paw, having the heel of it facing towards the ground.

 

The Viking shifted her weight. After a few seconds, she let out a sigh and grabbed my paw, strongly shaking it once and letting it go. “Fine, Hiccup Haddock, I’m going to trust you. For now.”

 

Her face suddenly became aggressive and she’d pushed her axe up and into my neck in one swift, fluid movement before I could even smile. Astrid leaned in close, ignoring Toothless’ cries, and continued in a low voice, “But if you even _think_ of betraying us…if I have any reason to doubt who you side with or if we really _are_ safe…” She narrowed those brilliant ice-blue eyes at me. I could see my own reflected in them, pupils mere slits in fear. “It won’t be your father who deals the final blow, but _me._ ”

 

Astrid released me and backed up, allowing me room to gasp for air. I nodded rapidly at her. “A-a-alright, I get the message! No problem! Heh,” I laughed shakily, backing up from her. Toothless ran to my side and stood below and in front of me, crouching, tail whipping back and forth.

 

Ignoring the furious Night Fury, Astrid glanced up at the sky. “It’s almost sundown. We need to leave, or we’ll be late and Gobber will punish at us,” she announced. I felt my ears perk; dragon training? They started it _this_ early?

 

I couldn’t help but watch Snotlout while the other three all scrambled, each convinced that they were going to be late. He was still standing, arms locked behind his neck and watching us with an unreadable expression. Fear sprang up on me; what was he going to do? Would he betray us? Was all of that hard work for nothing?

 

Fishlegs caught my gaze and correctly interpreted my thoughts. “Don’t worry, we’ll talk to him.” He smiled at me, which I hesitantly returned. “As long as you keep your end of the deal, nothing bad will happen.”

 

I nodded at him and he turned to leave, following Astrid and the twins.

 

Toothless and I stayed rooted to the spot, each of us not quite believing that this conversation had gone _so well_. There had been so many possible outcomes to this—and, by some stoke of luck, the gods had decided to give us a break. Thank Odin.

 

One by one, each of the teenagers clambered up an array of boulders and slipped through the tiny crack in the cove. Astrid was the last, helping Tuffnut and Fishlegs get Ruffnut through. As she began to leave, she stopped and pulled herself back out.

 

“Hey, Hiccup!” She waved at me to get my attention, though she didn’t need to. “We’ll be back.”

I nodded, hoping that I hadn’t forgotten something. I went over every little detail in a second. But it didn’t ease my worry, especially since I _really_ wanted to seal the deal. I watched the blonde teenager, automatically looking at her—her…single-edged axe? I thought it was double-edged.

 

“ _Wait!_ ” I cried, leaping to my feet, an idea lighting up in my mind. Astrid hesitated, confusion flitting across her face. I wasted no time, running over to her and skidding to a stop at a comfortable distance, pointing at the ground several times with my paw in a ‘stay here’ gesture. She frowned, but stayed put.

 

I spun on my heel, opened my wings, and flew out of the cove. Toothless let out a banshee cry, demanding to know what in the world I was doing, but I was too busy to answer. I spun in a tight circle, glancing at each tree lining the cliffs of our home, searching for the specific one… _there!_

 

A couple flaps of my wings and I landed right next to the desired tree—the one that still had Astrid’s axe in it.

 

I gently grabbed it with half-sheathed teeth, pulling it out with ease that my human body could have never accomplished. Then I returned back to where Astrid was standing, preferring to glide this time, and half-stepped onto the stone.

 

Astrid’s shock was almost comical. Her mouth dropped open, gaping at the weapon she’d probably thought she’d never see again. “I…” Astrid took it from my hands, examining it from top to bottom with an eagle’s eye. She looked up at me and mumbled, “Thank you. It was my mother’s…”

 

“Hiccup, quit delaying us!” Tuffnut’s voice carried into the cove. “We’re gonna be late and I _so_ don’t want to deal with Gobber being angry!”

 

Both Astrid and I ignored the impatient teen. I beamed at her. Still frowning, Astrid stared at me. She gave me an appreciative look—or tried to—and nodded once. Then she turned and climbed her way out of the cove. As she did, I left my own spot and trotted over to Toothless, feeling very jovial about the situation in general.

 

And then there were two.

 

Toothless and I were silent, each of us listening to the sound of the retreating posse that we’d somehow aligned with. When I could no longer hear their soft footfalls, I hunched over, feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders. Toothless sat down besides me, and, on a random impulse, I crouched on my hind legs and rubbed my face against his.

 

“Huh?” He looked at me in confusion. “What was that for?”

 

I grinned and let my rump hit the ground hard, tail raised in the air and swishing. “For not eating them.”

 

Toothless laughed, but it sounded forced. I gave him a questioning look.

 

He got right to the point. “Two things. What was that thing with the axe?” He narrowed his eyes at me, and scolded in an exasperated tone, “You shouldn’t give your enemies their weapons back, Hiccup.”

 

I smiled. “I know, but…that just showed her that I trusted her enough to give her back the axe she’s had for _years._ And it also let her know that I would fulfill my part of the deal. It’s…kind of like the Seal of Trust.”

 

Toothless’ eyes widened and understanding swept across his features. “Oh,” he said blandly. “Is it customary for humans to give things to each other to do that?”

 

I shrugged. “Well, not really, but I wouldn’t say it was rare. And what was that other thing you wanted to talk about?”

 

“Well…it’s…” He sighed and shook his head. “We can talk about it tomorrow. But there is _one_ thing I want to speak to you about.” He shifted to face me.

 

“What?” I asked warily, hoping that it wasn’t anything _bad._

 

Toothless snorted at my concern. “Relax. I’ve just decided that you need to learn how to properly shoot fire.”

 

I sat up straighter, smiling. “What? You told me you didn’t want me blowing up the entire cove.” I laughed, assuming he was joking. It quickly died down when he pinned me with a serious look.

 

“Your method of firing is reckless; so, yes, at first I was wary of it, since I knew it would catch the entire place on fire. But now that these…circumstances have come up, I don’t want to risk us getting caught by a hoard of _demons_ and you having no idea how to defend yourself.”

 

“But I know how to shoot fire,” I told him. “Put gas in your mouth, light it with that…thing in the back of your throat, and let it out of your mouth. That’s it…right?”

 

Toothless laughed. “It’s called an igniter, and of course not! The amount of gas and the shape of your mouth will be all the difference between a concentrated, smooth blast or an explosive, wide blast, or something in between. You have no method, so yours is the latter, which is never a good thing. It means the power is dispersed, but when you have it concentrated, it becomes much more effective.” He gazed at me expectantly and I nodded, though I didn’t quite understand.

 

The Night Fury abruptly stood up and began walking away. “Okay, so the first thing you need to know about shooting is the shape of your mouth, which can either be wide open or closed shut except for one point, which is always in the very front. I’m sure you can figure out how to—“

 

I leaped to my feet. “Wait!” I interrupted him. When he turned to look at me, I gasped, “Are you saying you want me to practice _now?_ ” I couldn’t help but feel very unwilling towards this. We’d just finished the most _stressful_ , _the_ most _emotionally_ and _physically_ draining conversation I’ve been through in my _entire life_ , and what did Toothless want to do? Blow things up! Yay!

                                                                                               

The dragon grinned with half-lidded eyes. “Aw, is little Hiccup tired? Does he want to go sleep all day?” He teased, somehow managing to slur all of his words together and still sound completely serious at the same time.

 

“Yes, he does!” I complained, lying down. Toothless trotted over with the same look in his face as when he’d forced me to eat that disgusting fish, and I tensed. Digging my claws into the ground and pressing myself against the dirt, I yelled, “I’m _not_ going to shoot fire around! The Vikings would see the smoke! You just told me how, so I don’t need to practice, anyways!” I added.

 

I was rewarded with Toothless grabbing my scruff and yanking me to my feet. I yelped and took a few clumsy steps away from him, shaking my head to try and get rid of the weird feeling I always got whenever the annoying dragon did that.

 

“Of course you need to practice!” Toothless scoffed. “Now get over here and show me how you’ll position your mouth. I still don’t want you setting this entire place on fire.”

 

I stood very still, tail flicking once or twice and side-frills extended from my head.

 

Then I _bolted!_

 

My shorter legs didn’t do me much good with the speed; Toothless caught up to me in less than a minute, thoroughly annoyed with how I was ‘acting like a hatchling’. I couldn’t stop laughing, dodging back and forth and zig-zagging to successfully escape the Night Fury’s ‘intense wrath’. I just stuck my tongue out at him when he said this and called him stuck-up.

 

To my shock, though, I began to hear Toothless laughing behind me. To make sure I wasn’t imagining things, I made the mistake of glancing over my shoulder, unknowingly slowing down. This gave my friend all the extra distance he needed and he jumped me, bit my ear and tugged it, and then sprang away from me. I was still on the ground by the time he’d managed to make it halfway across the cove, shouting ridiculous insults at me and calling me a slowpoke.

 

“Challenge accepted!” I cried, leaping to my feet and taking to the skies.

 

“ _Cheater!_ ” Toothless screeched, making a break for the destroyed wall of the cove for a hiding spot. My only response was to laugh.

 

* * *

I’m not one for gazing at landscapes and marveling at their beauty. For me, what’s there has always been there, so why bother calling it ‘beautiful’ or ‘mysterious’ when there was an endless amount of time to explore it? Why put so much attention into something that you’ve lived your entire life with?

 

And yet I found myself sitting in the uppermost branches of the tallest tree of the cove, watching the faint outline of the Dragon of the Sun make His way into the waking world.

 

I sighed, watching my breath fog and mist around me, swirling a couple times before disappearing into the sky. I couldn’t sleep.

 

Hiccup, on the other hand, was out like a rock, curled up contently on a bed of hot coals that I’d taught him how to make. It was really the only thing that he’d actually enjoyed about the firebreathing lessons we’d gone through. He’d whined and whined and _whined_ about it, choosing sleep in favor of protection. And when he’d actually practiced, he’d shown that he was quite an, for lack of better words, _absolutely awful_ pupil when it came to shooting fire. For instance, he’d managed to choke on his own igniting gas when he’d filtered too much out and closed his mouth too tight. And he’d also accidentally ignited the fire inside of his mouth, leaving him with a swollen throat and tongue and an _endless_ drinking session. And at one point, I’m pretty sure he forgot how fire works. He shot a blast _directly at a tree!_ If I hadn’t body-slammed the burning trunk to smolder the fire, then it would have burned and toppled over, and then the entire _cove_ would have been alit.

 

And his aim. Oh, Dragoness of the Moon. His _aim._

 

It didn’t help that I knew why Hiccup wasn’t taking to it too well and could do nothing about it. It was his lack of motivation. The hybrid saw no reason to use his fire, since, _Hey!_ the humans trusted him! I hadn’t had the heart to tell them that they could have been lying. Easily. He’d been so happy, so at peace with his body, that it would have been cruel. ‘Fishlegs’ had done wonders to Hiccup’s tiny self-esteem in his winning argument against ‘Astrid’ and the others. Maybe I wouldn’t try to kill him if he came back.

 

For a second, I considered waking my friend up to teach him how to use his senses properly—I’d been reminded of how he hadn’t heard the human gang coming. He seemed to have trouble using his senses. It took one look at him to decide not to. Hiccup was in desperate need of his sleep. He needed to rest and relax for once.

 

I continued my watch alone.

 

A sudden noise came from the general direction that the humans’ nest and I instantly perked my ears towards it. But it only proved to be a handful of small, lesser birds attacking a rather large hawk that was carrying away one of their young. I grunted, readying a blast to shoot down the bird—who knew how long it would be since Hiccup and I would eat once we went through the fish supply?—when something caught my eye. I let my attention drift from the birds to…

 

From here…I could just barely see the ocean…

 

I shook my head to clear my mind. I’d already been over this with myself! I wasn’t going to mourn in self-pity.

 

I _did_ miss the feeling of the ocean spray, though. And the smell. And the hoards of fresh fish ripe for the picking…

 

_Stop it_ , I growled to myself. _You’re only going to make it worse._

 

I couldn’t help myself. I began thinking about my handicap.

 

The magic inside of me felt like it was crawling to its previous point. But after much thought, I knew that no amount of power would bring my tailfin back. I’d been on and off about repairing it, convincing myself that it would be possible one day and then realizing it would work the next. Dragon magic, although thousands of years old, is unnatural. Legends say that the dragons blessed by the gods of magic passed the traits down to their offspring, and, eventually, it boomed into the entire population. It came at a cost, though.

 

Since magic is a foreign energy, it causes the body to attack itself with _extreme_ overuse. Healing simple scratches causes incredible pain if you help another dragon. Attempting to fix an amputation by myself would be agonizing and potentially lethal; if I passed out or lost my concentration midway, the lump of unfinished flesh and scales could easily become cancerous.

 

Becoming dependent on magic would get a dragon addicted, and they would be unable to function without it, abuse it, and eventually wipe their minds of all rational thoughts. The consequences all depended on the type of magic. There is one well-known form that enhances the body and its abilities; for instance, when I healed Hiccup’s wound, all I was really did was push his body’s natural healing process to superspeed. Hence the pain.

 

The only other type of magic is very debatable. Some dragons say it exists; others say it doesn’t. It doesn’t apply to the physical world, but the mental, spiritual, and energy aspects of the dragons that it affects. Because it doesn’t have any physical evidence, and very few dragons have ‘used’ it, most of my kind is skeptical. I personally believe that the Queen uses this magic to keep control of the tribe.

 

I don’t know why _my_ magic didn’t hurt me when I transformed Hiccup. Thinking about it now, it bothered me. I didn’t know the exact moment I noticed my tailfin had been gone…

 

…had I—?!

 

I banished the thought from my mind and beat it into submission, once again staring at the Dragon of the Sun. Forcing myself to mull over something else, I chose the first topic that came to mind: humans. I struggled with it, but eventually reminded myself that I _was_ supposed to be looking for danger. I shuddered.

 

Any moment now, the Viking tribe could be here, out for the kill. Even if Hiccup was convinced that his little ‘friends’ had bought his _disgusting **tame** act_ , I knew to be on my guard. Those humans had changed their minds so easily, I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to undo what Hiccup had done on their way back from our home.

 

I just hoped that Hiccup was right about them. Even from here, the tallest point in the cove that I could reach, I was only about halfway up the cliffside closest to it. It seemed almost like I was mocked; the cliff wall directly parallel to where I was sitting wasn’t too much taller than the tree. It had giant tree roots growing all over it, desperately trying to hold the earth in place, and it was nearly a vertical incline. Still, I could have easily come and gone from this area if only the tree I was sitting atop was on the opposite side of the lake.

 

Anger boiled up within me for a second at the unfairness of it all. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, dispelling it. I’d learned to accept situations as they were in the past days, and I was keen on keeping myself that way. No need throwing a fit over something that _no_ dragon could fix.

 

For hours, I stayed on my perch, keeping watch over the cove and observing the Dragon of the Sun as He rose. Clouds were rising over the horizon, promising a cloudy day at the least. The ocean sparkled and swayed, so unlike the lake, which was calm almost all of the time and perfectly reflected everything above it.

 

The sun was about a quarter into the sky when Hiccup began to shuffle in his sleep. Knowing that meant that he was about to wake up, I carefully clawed my way down the tree trunk and jumped off, landing lightly onto the soft, green grass. Settling down next to Hiccup, I watched him for a moment and rested my head on my forelegs. He stirred again and slowly brought himself into the waking world.

 

Hiccup rubbed his face with one paw and smiled in greeting at me. “Morning,” he mumbled sleepily, stretching out his front legs as far as they would go and arching his back.

 

“Sleep well?” I asked. Hiccup answered me with a jaw-popping yawn, which I guess is a ‘yes’ for humans. “Good. Because if you think you can just waste away an entire morning like that, then you’re stupider than a Little-Biter.”

 

“Huh?!” Hiccup turned to me, bewildered. “But we were up all night doing your ‘training lessons’!” He gestured with his tail at a series of scorch marks along one of the stronger walls, all of which were caused by him in the middle of the night; like he’d said, we couldn’t just practice fireblasts in the day, where the smoke could be seen! So the only logical conclusion was to practice fire-breathing at night.

 

I nodded. “Yes, but that’s no excuse.” Hiccup’s left ear twitched in annoyance and I smirked. “You really can be lazy sometimes.”

 

Hiccup got to his feet and stretched, grumbling, “There’s a fine line between being lazy and wanting to rest.”

 

“Yup, and you’re on the lazy side!” I purred. Hiccup scoffed and sat down to scratch at a spot behind his ear. As he did, his eyes closed into mere slits and his tongue stuck out a little. So, I, like any other sensible dragon, walked over to him and tipped him over as a punishment. Impulsive? Me? Pfft. My older brother would do it to me all the time.

 

The human-turned-dragon stumbled and dropped to the ground, squirming for a couple seconds before standing up. “Ow! _Toothless!_ ” He whined, pushed me in the chest lightly with his paw. I snickered.

 

“Sleep in any more and you’ll get that. _All_ day. _Every_ day.” I forced an overly cheerful smile onto my face, laughing when the brown Shadow-Blender stared at me in horror. “Oh, you _poor thing._ Next time, go to sleep earlier! Or take a nap in the middle of the day when you’re done doing whatever you need to do.”

 

Hiccup scowled at me. “Yeah? Well, _I’m_ still going to sleep in, since we really don’t need to do anything today…or the next…or the next.” He straightened and puffed out his chest proudly, as if he’d won some great award or honor. I didn’t know whether to think of his naivety as hilarious or startlingly _stupid._

 

I stood as well, making my way over to him and patting him in the back of the neck with my wing. “You’re silly. We’ve got plenty of things to do.” I paused, remembering the cut-off conversation we’d had last night. With a sigh, I added, “We need to talk about something.”

 

Believe me, I really didn’t want to have this discussion. I didn’t want Hiccup to lose his hope in those _disgusting_ humans because of how much their trust meant to him. But I didn’t want him to get stabbed in the back and never see it coming. That would crush him. He needed to be prepared, and it seemed that I would have to be the one to do it.

 

_Be as gentle as possible_ , I told myself. When Hiccup had sat down in front of me and I’d done the same, I began, “I know that you’re excited about those Vikings making a truce with us, but I really don’t understand _why_ you did.” Hiccup’s eyes widened in shock and hurt. I cringed. “I’m not disagreeing with you. But I do find it very hard to figure out when their way of ‘making a truce’ was throwing their weapons at us when they first saw us and then yelling at you for a good portion of that conversation.”

 

“They weren’t yelling at me!” Hiccup immediately snapped to defend them. “And I trust them because they agreed to an alliance. If there’s anything Vikings do well, it’s keeping their word. And killing things, but that’s besides the point,” he babbled, shaking his head. The freckled dragon gave me an angry look, ears pressed against his head, and continued, “You of all dragons should know that, Toothless!”

 

I bit back a growl. “I _do_ know that,” I insisted, “but those Vikings might change their mind! How can you be _so sure_ that they aren’t going to tell their superiors where we are?” I stared into Hiccup’s eyes, and suddenly I could easily see the frustration and confusion swimming within them. Guilt rushed through me. I shouldn’t have started this conversation. _Damn it._

“Well, how were you so sure that I wouldn’t attack you after we made our own truce?” Hiccup shot back evenly. His voice was rising in pitch and volume. “That’s the same thing with them! We promised each other something and stuck to it. Astrid and the others will do the same thing!”

 

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “But _how_ do you know? Sure, they agreed to you and did that…thing…with your paw. But how—I mean—ugh.” I glared at the ground for a second and then returned my gaze to Hiccup’s. “What makes you think they won’t change their mind?” I finally got out.

 

Hiccup’s eyebrows raised and he stared at me. “I trust them,” he declared after several seconds, “and I _know_ that we’ll be safe. If anything, Fishlegs would warn us if an attack were to happen. And since Astrid was the one to agree to it, the others will follow her lead.” He took a deep breath and made a visible effort to calm down before quietly adding, “…and Snotlout has always gone along with Astrid, so we know we’re safe from him, too.”

 

I allowed myself to think this over. It didn’t take long for my mind to immediately come to a conclusion. Was ‘Astrid’ their group’s Queen? It sure did sound like it. Thinking back on it now, I realized that, even though she didn’t directly address anyone as much as the others did, they’d all hung on her every word—except ‘Snotlout’. But his challenges to her authority were beat down rather quickly by the Queen herself, and whenever she did something, the other four (or three, when ‘Snotlout’ ran away like a little coward) were sure to follow.

 

So was Hiccup actually playing it smart when he focused most of his attention to ‘Astrid’? Or was it solely because of his attraction towards her? Either way, I could see how he would think that we were safe based on that reasoning. But…

 

“Are you sure your ‘Astrid’ just wasn’t playing a dirty lie to raise her rank?” I blurted. Such an action wouldn’t be unheard of, considering she attacked me not even five hours after I’d changed Hiccup from his human form into his present one. That female had ambition and wasn’t afraid to use it for her own good. It unnerved me to think that our fate was resting in her disgusting, greedy hands.

 

Hiccup leaned forward and locked me into place with his eyes. “Yes.” The link formed again, fierce and strong.

 

“Well…but…” I struggled to come up with anything else; I knew that whatever I said, Hiccup’s unwavering trust would provide him with an answer. He was so strongly committed to it that I knew that all arguments I had would fail. With a little bit of effort, I looked away and broke the connection. “Fine. I’ll trust _you_ , Hiccup. But not your _friends_ ,” I hissed. I felt like I was saying some curse, admitting to believing those disgusting humans! If it weren’t for Hiccup’s upset, passionate response to my first question, then I probably would have continued the conversation just to defend my honor.

 

“Thanks, Toothless,” Hiccup breathed in relief, blowing away my feelings of rage and embarrassment. “I have something I need to ask you, too.” When I looked up in surprise, he smiled sheepishly. “I sort-of hinted at it, but you didn’t get it.” I continued to be silent, not recalling one word that could have possibly ‘hinted’ at a question. What was Hiccup saying?

 

He pawed at the ground nervously. “So, uh, when I left the cove the other day, you were acting…well, _normal._ Your usual self. Later on that night, though, you…er…” he trailed off, eyes glazing over momentarily while he tried to figure out what exactly he wanted to say, “…you started to sincerely care about me. And I you. What made you change your mind about me?”

                                                                                                             

My eyes widened and my ears stood on end. I was _not_ expecting that. I’d thought that Hiccup had just accepted it as how I was going to act from now on. It struck me as odd that he choose the incident a couple nights ago as the day I began to care about him; _that_ had happened when Hiccup had nearly drowned. Then I realized that he wouldn’t have figured that out, since I’d tried to stay as impassive as possible to not seem soft.

 

I lowered my gaze, tail twitching slightly. “Like I said…I thought you had left me after awhile.” I grimaced at the memory of the panic attack I’d had: flying against the cove walls and slamming myself into them over and over, screaming wordlessly, and desperately trying to escape. I noticed in the edge of my vision that Hiccup, too, had flinched at the sentence. “When I couldn’t get out…well…I don’t know,” I sighed in frustration. This conversation was more uncomfortable than the one from yesterday!

 

“Go on,” Hiccup encouraged lightly. I looked up at him to see that he was giving me kind, understanding look, as if he knew what words I were struggling with. It suddenly hit me that _Hiccup_ may have as hard a time as I do when talking about himself; he’d implied that he’d been something of an outcast even before all of this happened. Realizing that I was dealing with something that he’s been facing for years, and that I had no right to complain in comparison, I mustered up the courage to continue on.

 

“I…guess I realized that I missed you. A lot,” I grinned hesitantly. “Once I ‘figured out’ that you’d left for good, I started to panic because I thought I’d been abandoned and couldn’t handle it.” I looked up at Hiccup, who looked immensely upset with himself, and went on, “I was the happiest I’d been in a long time when you woke me up. Trust me, it caught me off-guard, too,” I snorted. “I guess I finally understood how important you were to me then, which is what caused my, as you call it, _change_.” I purposely made my voice as high-pitched and nasally as I could, making an impressive imitation of my friend’s voice.

 

Hiccup giggled and got up, trotting over to me. “I know I’ve been saying this a lot, but thanks. I really appreciate you telling me, particularly since it’s so hard for you to talk about your feelings.” He butted my chest affectionately and rubbed his cheek against mine while I stayed frozen in shock. After a second, I cracked a smile, not really knowing how to react to the hybrid’s immediate acceptance of my emotions. It felt…nice.

 

“Thanks for understanding,” I murmured, leaning on him and closing my eyes.

 

It was then that Hiccup’s stomach decided to growl. We both jumped and looked at his stomach, watching it as it rumbled and complained for food.

 

I burst out laughing when said dragon attempted to cover up the noise by hunching over and hiding his face underneath a wing in mortification. “Why don’t we go have breakfast?” I suggested, playfully pulling on Hiccup’s ear to get him to stand up.

 

“…okay!” He squeaked, ducking his head and trying his level best not to smile.

 

So that was how we made our way over to the forgotten pile of fish on the opposite end of the cove. I grimaced at smelling how some of the fish had rotted in the sun. Neither of us complained, though; we were too happy to have something to put in our bellies that it didn’t really seem to matter.

 

I let Hiccup start the customary sharing routine, taking one fish, and then letting me take one, and then him, and so on. For awhile, we just talked about…things. We didn’t mention yesterday or the conversation we’d just had. I was surprised at how easily the words left my mouth, like nothing was holding me back. We talked about the weather, favorite types of food (I warned him to stay away from those damned eels—not only did they have a _repulsive_ scent, but they were poisonous, too!), told stories to each other, commented on the local wildlife and played a roleplaying game of Hiccup’s design…everything, really. I’d never had such a conversation in my entire life. Most dragons… _don’t_ feel so open around each other. Never, actually.

 

I felt like I’d been missing out on something.

 

“So, I thought, ‘well, this sounds like a perfectly reasonable idea!’, and managed to make my way _all the way_ across the tree log, only for it to break and leave me stranded on the other side of Raven Point! I was like, ‘well, didn’t see _that_ one coming’!” Hiccup was saying between laughs as I struggled to remember ever having a talk like this. I eventually gave up and became engrossed in the story, disbelief etched across my face.

 

“You managed to get lost in your _own_ forest?” At Hiccup’s bewildered stare, I roared with laughter. “ _Oh_ , Hiccup!”

 

Hiccup threw a fish at me, one of the last. We’d agreed to finish off the supply before the rotten parts made the food inedible. “I didn’t get _lost_ , I was just…forced into finding a creative way out. Nothing wrong with that.” He nodded to himself. “In fact, now that I think about it, I’m glad that I got lo—sidetracked. Because then I found a nice little trail in the forest.”

 

I snickered. “By sidetracked, you mean you stumbled over a hill or something and got covered in bugs and weeds.”

 

The smaller dragon slumped. I nearly fell over, I was laughing so hard!

 

“I’m gonna steal your fish,” Hiccup mumbled, trying his very best to not laugh. It wasn’t working. At all. I shook my head, beyond words, and scooped up the tiny meal and swallowed it in one swift movement. “Well, fine, Toothless. Now you’ve got to tell _me_ an embarrassing story!”

 

I snorted, still not quite over my amusement on Hiccups “not lost, but creative walking!” story. “Fine. Let’s see…hm…well, a long time ago, I was crawling through some caves by the seaside. I remember that I was young and still dependant on my family. I wanted to prove to them that I wasn’t useless, so I’d decided to hunt for a troll.” As I said this, I tapped my right paw on the ground to animate my story.

 

Hiccup leaped to his feet excitedly. “ _Trolls exist!_ Nobody believes me! Well, my mentor does, but still, it’s true!”

 

“ _I know!_ ” I gasped, sitting up straighter. Finally, someone who knew the truth! “And I _swear_ I caught one, but by the time I’d brought everyone to see him, he was gone! They never stopped making fun of me for that. It was mortifying.”

 

We looked at each other wisely, holding equally sage expressions and nodding delicately. It took about three seconds for the two of us to burst into amused peals.

 

With a snort, I nudged the last fish towards Hiccup. When he protested, I interrupted him, “No, you haven’t eaten as much as I have. I managed to hunt down a few deer before getting caught in here, so you take it.” When the tiny Shadow-Blender still refused to take it, I smiled. “It’s fine, really.”

 

Hiccup reluctantly took the fish and swallowed it. A small, shy smile rested on his face.

 

I returned the gesture. The two of us fell into a calm, slightly awkward silence then, neither of us quite sure where to look and both of us quickly looking elsewhere when we caught each other staring. Out of lack of anything else to do, I turned my head towards the area that the Vikings had come in the previous day, ears perked. I couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, still…

 

…So, maybe they had kept up their end of the deal.

 

“Hey, Toothless?” Hiccup piped up eventually. I turned to look at him, and he continued, “How can you understand human speech?” He tipped his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly and forehead wrinkling a little. “I’ve thought it over for a long time, but I can’t figure it out.”

 

I sat down and wrapped my tail around my paws. “Well…uh…” I flicked my ears, struggling to remember. I _knew_ the answer; I just couldn’t find the right words to explain it. “The dragon ancestors knew that humans were becoming their main enemies, and they were losing,” I explained slowly, hoping that I was making sense, “so they sent out their smartest spies to observe humans, especially the young ones, to see how they would communicate. What they did was concentrate on the words and their immediate meanings, and then took into account their learned words and the situation. It took several years and even more fatalities, since several of the spies got caught, but they eventually mastered the language. _Norse_ is what you call it, right?” At this, Hiccup grinned and nodded, and was there… _pride_ in his eyes? I preened, continuing with a big smile, “So, it became a custom for all of the older dragons to learn _Norse_. Once that had happened, the spies took off south to teach other dragon nests how to do the same. Eventually, instead of waiting until dragons came of age, parents simply taught their young the language.”

 

“How?” Hiccup asked, confusion flickering across his face. “I mean, it seems kind of hard to _explain_ a language.”

 

I shook my head at this. “The sentence structure and the basic grammar were explained, but most parents taught their hatchlings by taking them down to human settlements and having them observe, like the ancient spies. They also used magic to speed up the process by inserting memories of learning and ideas of the grammar in small intervals. That’s how I learned, anyways.”

 

“Oh. Creepy.” Hiccup laughed at my deadpan expression. “But, hey, you know what that means? I’ll bet that men can learn dragon language, too! It can be called… _Dragonese!_ ” He ‘popped’ at this, jumping on his hind legs and spreading his wings and tailfins. I rewarded him with a sarcastic expression.

 

“How clever,” I said dryly. Hiccup beamed.

 

A thought suddenly came to mind, interrupting my next sarcastic remark. I straightened up and asked, “Hiccup, can you explain to me that whole scratch-marks thing you did yesterday?”

 

Words could not describe how furious I had been when Hiccup had switched to his ‘silent language’ during the conversations with the humans. I’d been left in the dark, only able to understand what exactly was going on by the hatchlings’ reactions to what Hiccup was writing, or if I was lucky enough to hear one speak out loud. I’d never felt so vulnerable; here I was, inches from the enemy, and I had no idea what they were saying to each other!

 

Hiccup grinned widely at this. “It’s called ‘literature’. See, human languages have two forms: verbal and written. How the written language works differs with the specific languages, but with Norse, the symbols—or runes—represent sounds. When you mush the sounds together, you get words like the ones we speak.”

 

I nodded in understanding. How…interesting. Dragon language was only partially verbal. Now I wanted to look at his ‘writing’ again, to see for myself! I got up and sauntered my way over to where the meeting had taken place, looking at the faint scratches that Hiccup had made in the dirt. I scrutinized it as best as I could, walking around the runes by moving only my hind legs and leaning in very close to them. Very carefully, I began to copy the ‘words’ underneath them, struggling to use my longest claw as Hiccup had done yesterday.

 

“See, there you go! Not exactly legible, but you get the point.”

 

I paused, glancing up at the freckled Shadow-Blender standing above me with a smile. “I think I see a pattern. But it’s so complicated…” I sighed in frustration, glaring at the ‘runes’. “I can’t figure it out, but I _want_ to.”

 

There was a laugh and a playful push to the side. “You can’t learn an entire language in one day, Toothless! Especially off of one sentence.” I snorted and shook my head stubbornly. “Here, I have a better idea. Watch this!”

 

I yelped when a shadow appeared over me and flattened myself to the ground. Hiccup landed a few feet from me and continued with his running off in a random direction. I huffed in irritation; he’d nearly knocked my head off!

 

He was already coming back when I’d sat up with as much dignity as I could. The smaller of the two of us held a small stick (about a meter long) in his mouth, and attempted to grin at me without looking stupid.

 

“What are you—“ I asked, but never finished.                                           

 

Hiccup leaned down and dug the stick into the ground, moving it in a strange pattern. I got up and leaned over his shoulder, head bobbing to follow the wood’s path. My mouth dropped open and I had a sudden intake of air when I realized what exactly my strange friend was doing.

 

He was creating a Shadow-Blender in the dirt!

 

“Let me try!” Before Hiccup could protest, I’d grabbed his stick from his mouth and run off a distance to a new patch of dirt. I mimicked Hiccup’s posture earlier, determined to place a perfect picture of our kind in the earth for all to see. I started with the eyes, then the head, and the wings—oh, I forgot the nose—now the legs, and the tail, and the tailfins…done!

 

I dropped the stick and sat back to view my work at a different angle, nodding in approval. Now _that_ was an accurate representation of the best species on earth!

 

When Hiccup walked over, I leaned back, pointing with one paw at the dirt. “Look! I drew an _entire_ Shadow-Blender.” He sat down next to me and tipped his head to the side, a slight frown on his face. I blinked, confused. “What’s wrong?” I inquired, “Do you not think it’s good?”

 

Hiccup looked at me and smiled sheepishly. “Y-Yeah, I think it’s good, Toothless!” He told me cheerfully… _too_ cheerfully.

 

“You think it’s bad,” I realized, slumping. I couldn’t believe it! My picture was _amazing!_

 

“Well…there are some parts that are anatomically incorrect…” Hiccup trailed, “Like the legs…and wings…and chest…but other than that, it’s great! Especially for a first try!”

 

“First success,” I corrected him. He just raised an eyebrow at me, amused, while I smirked. “Thanks, though,” I said modestly, dropping the ‘I’m perfect’ act.

 

With a nod, Hiccup got up and started a little doodle of his own, using his claw to add to my picture. “It’s strange, though,” he said dreamily, “to think that you guys knew all along what we were saying. If only you knew how to write…we’d be able to form a truce between dragons and humans.”

 

I hunched over for real this time. “It would never happen,” I told him softly. “The others wouldn’t be able to agree.”

 

I hadn’t really meant for Hiccup to hear it; I was just talking to myself, really, wishing for the millionth time that the spell could be broken. He caught onto it easily, though, and perked up, concern written across his face at my sudden drop of a good mood. “What do you mean, ‘ _wouldn’t’_?” He asked, stopping in his drawing of the two of us flying and turning to face me fully.

 

I hesitated. Should I tell him about the Queen? I didn’t want to bring him into the core of the war. Knowing him, he’d want to do something about it; Hiccup was kind-hearted enough to worry about people who wouldn’t care if he were alive or dead…I doubt he’d want to stand around and do nothing, knowing about the massive spell pushed over the entire nest.

 

“…Toothless?”

 

I snapped back to attention. Hiccup was right in front of me, concern shining in his eyes.

 

The link between us burst to life. Hiccup knew something was wrong and genuinely wanted to help me. I, on the other hand, was worried about what he would do when he knew. The clash of emotions left both of us feeling touched, but wary of the story nonetheless—especially when determination set in on the Viking’s side.

 

With a forlorn sigh, I gave in. “I…I don’t know how to explain this without being blunt…” Hiccup gave me an encouraging nod, egging me on. I took in a breath and calmed my nerves. We were going to be okay. Telling him wouldn’t hurt anyone. “Okay, then.” I straightened and looked my friend in the eyes, refusing to reveal the truth while looking away—a coward’s act.

 

“There is a gigantic dragon—no, a monster—controlling the entire nest with her magic. Once a dragon is pulled in, there is no escape, and they lose all of their free will and thoughts.”

 

Hiccup’s reaction was to be expected. He jumped back and away from me with wide eyes, ears and side-frills pinned against his head. “ _What?!_ ” He cried, leaning back and whipping his tail back and forth. “But…but…It’s never seemed that way before…and _you_ weren’t affected…” An unspoken horror seemed to flash before his eyes. “Were you?” The Shadow-Blender whispered.

 

“No,” I sighed, and he immediately relaxed and straightened out, albeit still wearing an extremely unsettled look on his face. “But, sometimes, I wished I was. Since Shadow-Blenders have the strongest magic, besides the Queen, I was unaffected. I was helpless to stop her, and by the time I realized she grew stronger and bigger by each day…it was too late.” I hung my head. “I had the chance, and I missed it.”

 

“You can’t put the weight of an entire nest on your shoulders,” Hiccup pointed out gently. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against mine, staring into my troubled eyes. “It’s unfair to yourself.” He pulled back, sadness etched across his face, and asked, “Toothless…you were the only one free of the spell, weren’t you? Were you the only Nigh—I mean, Shadow-Blender in the entire nest?”

 

Despair hit me hard. I wanted to speak, but felt like I couldn’t, like I wasn’t _allowed_ to. Why did I pull Hiccup into this? Why didn’t I just skirt around the subject? He would’ve understood. And all I could do was nod grimly at him, wishing fiercely that this conversation had never come up. The bond formed again, and Hiccup visibly recoiled under the memories of emotions that I had felt; fear, loneliness, anger, _confusion_ , grief…all of it. I scrambled to get a grip on myself, to hold any of it back, but I couldn’t break it up even when I looked away. Hiccup bravely kept the link up on his own accord, letting himself drown in the tales of an unspoken past.

 

When it cut off, we were both quiet for a long time. My eyebrows were pulled down low over my eyes, a thick frown planted on my face, ears drooping. I looked down, to my side, avoiding Hiccup’s gaze. I…didn’t want to remember…It was too painful. I needed to recover—I needed to think of something else—those humans were _awfully_ stupid—

 

“How long?” His voice quivered, and he winced, like he was about to be struck.

 

“Before the Great War,” I murmured, staring at Hiccup’s picture on the ground. We were flying in it. My throat constricted and I heaved a breath.

 

“And you were alone.” Smiling, in the clouds.

 

—Well there weren’t clouds there but I imagined them and it would be so nice to be able to fly again—

 

“Yes.” I could barely even hear myself say it, much less form the word. A rush of emotions flooded over me, a wall I’d so carefully built broke down. I felt a lump form in my throat and swallowed harshly with rapidly blinking eyes. It was no use; years upon _years_ _upon_ **_years_** of having absolutely no one but myself attacked me all at once, grabbing my legs and wings in greedy, clawed arms and rushing me down into darkness. I squeezed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth. I wanted to slap myself; I was a Shadow-Blender! We do not _wallow_ in despair. This was _humiliating_ —

 

I heard him take in a deep, shaky breath. Hiccup stepped up to me and paused. Then he brought a paw up, grabbing my shoulder, and tightly wrapped his wings around me. I gasped, eyes snapping open, but all the strange little once-was-human did was bring his other arm around my neck and bury his face into the top of my head. What was this? What was he doing? I squirmed out of instinct—were those monsters dragging me back down?!—no, it’s Hiccup— _calm down, Toothless_. All Hiccup did was tighten his hold on me, murmuring soft comforts.

 

I stared into nothingness, struggling to breathe. My heart was hammering like a Buzz-Wing’s wingbeats. Hesitantly, I brought up my paw and gripped the arm that was on my shoulder. A second later, my entire body wracked, and I buried my face into Hiccup’s chest. My body shook from nose to tailtip so hard, I thought my scales would fall off. Hiccup squeezed my shoulder and fell silent.

 

We sat like that for a long time.

 

* * *

“I’m sorry for overreacting.”

 

“No, don’t be sorry at all!”

 

I moved my head from its resting position on the ground and onto my leg so I could see Hiccup. He was standing in front of me, glaring. The harsh look fell when he took in my solemn, tired expression.

 

“Don’t be mad because you actually _opened up_ and talked to someone, Toothless,” Hiccup said. “It’s a good thing.”

 

I pushed against the ground and sat up, saying, “I know, but for me to completely lose it like that was uncalled for…and unfair to you.” Shaking my head, I gave him a truly apologetic look.

 

I was _furious_ at myself for breaking down like that. That was, in no way at all, acceptable. Yes, ‘opening myself up’ is good and all, but I should have done it in another way. Maybe by talking or slowly over time. I should have known better than to let my guard down and let all of my emotions hit me like a tidal wave. Now I’d dishonored myself in front of the gods _and_ Hiccup by acting so recklessly. Even if he had held up to the custom of comforting another dragon in distress, he shouldn’t have had to in the first place.

 

Said dragon groaned and shook his head at me. “No, it isn’t.” He leaned down to my eye level and said, “Toothless, if you didn’t let go eventually, then you would have imploded. You would ‘lose it’ in a way a lot worse than just letting your emotions out. I don’t know why you think otherwise, but it’s _really_ a good thing.” He offered a soft smile that I warily returned.

 

I didn’t really believe that, but I did want Hiccup to feel better; he was almost as upset as I was throughout the entire time, offering comfort nonstop. So I guess I would… _try_ to go with it.

 

I glanced up at the noon sun, praying for guidance. My instincts and gut told me to act with what my past had taught me…but something else, just as strong, said to follow Hiccup’s lead. I just hoped that I made the right choice…or at least one that would redeem me.

 

“Toothless,” Hiccup started, but I stopped him.

 

“I’m fine now. Really,” I gave him a weak grin—a weak grin that slowly melted into a real one. I wasn’t ‘fine’, but I was feeling better. Maybe he _was_ right.

 

I let out a breath of air, closing my eyes. I let the harsh, coiled up emotions within me unknot themselves, exposed. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.

 

When I finally felt I could handle returning to reality, I reopened my eyes and gazed at a confused, concerned Hiccup. It suddenly hit me hard how worried he was. _He_ cared about me. _He_ deserved my trust, not my instincts.

 

I had no right to keep him in the dark after he’d done his best to make me better. Taking this thought, I acted on a sudden impulse to let things go as he’d said. I began to _talk._

 

“I…I think the reason I was so upset,” my body tingled with sudden nervousness, “was because it brought up memories.” I cringed at how dumb I sounded and continued awkwardly, “I mean, speaking of the Queen forced me to remember the terrible things she’d do. When she was small enough to fit in and out of the nest, she’d direct groups of dragons to float just above the ocean. When a sea dragon came by and she forced it to jump out of the water to eat them, she only grabbed onto it when it was _done_ and the entire group was dead. Did you know that sea dragons are cannibals, too? I would’ve never thought— _ugh_ , I’m getting off-point. Whenever she found a dragon strong enough to resist her spell, she’d rip off their wings and throw them out to sea. It didn’t take long for me to become the only one left that could resist. To make it worse, whenever other dragons with strong magic would come by, like Forest-Cutters and other Shadow-Blenders, she would make them go through a test of endurance, and if they failed, she killed them. But it was really just a fake act, because she was only making sure if she could enforce all of her will on them. I saw a friend of my older brother die because of that—he openly resisted. And this other time, she—“ I stopped abruptly, realizing that I was rambling.

 

My thoughts swirled around in my head with no rhyme or rhythm. I struggled to right them, to get them to work the way I wanted them to. I had the _idea_ of what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t find any words. It was _frustrating_ , gods damn it!

 

“What I’m trying to get at is…” I trailed off, concentrating. After several moments, I gave an aggravated sigh, shaking my head. “It’s not that I was forced to watch her do bad deeds!” I growled, nose wrinkling slightly. I _knew_ the answer. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I felt like my language had escaped me, and I was left with a description but no way to say it. “I mean, that _is_ a part of it, but it’s not the one that should be focused on…I can’t _word_ it—“

 

“I think I know,” Hiccup interrupted me, holding a paw up from his seated position in front of me. Understanding clear in his face and voice, he said, “You were lonely.” I was silent, and he continued, “I understand that…I didn’t really have anybody growing up. I was kind of the village screw-up.” He shrugged passively, as if it didn’t matter. I tipped my head slightly, but when he showed no reaction, I took the hint and ignored it.

 

I pawed at the ground. He was right. I didn’t need to say it. A small part of me remembered that I’d already realized this, and had forgotten due to the stress of the situation.

 

The Viking continued on, feeling the need to explain himself, “Even before my mother died, I’d never been able to get things right. But afterwards…it’s like my dad pushed all of his _and_ her expectations on me at once, and I couldn’t handle it. I _wanted_ to do things right…but I always seemed destined to screw up.” He gave a little smirk along with the sarcastic remark.

 

“You lost your mother?” I gasped, feeling a tingle go down my spine and my muscles tense up.

 

Hiccup grimaced. “She got sick,” He explained, getting up and pacing around me. “The elder said that a wound from a dragon bite got infected…something about that species’ saliva being poisonous.” He shook his head at this, closing his eyes momentarily. “I don’t know. She fought it as long as she could, but nobody could do anything. She passed in her sleep.” He bit his lower lip, pine-green eyes faded over with memories.

 

I stared, open-mouthed. Was this…a coincidence? Had the Dragoness of the Moon played this out specifically?

 

Shifting slightly to get the blood rushing through my legs, I tipped my head to the side and studied the brown Shadow-Blender.

 

“It’s…uncanny,” I spoke up gravely, causing Hiccup to come to attention. “ _My_ own mother died from illness, too.” Flashes of old places and dragons—my mother, my father, a fire in a forest, my older brother flying off forever, a village on lookout—all swept before my eyes. I gulped, taking in a deep breath through my nose and letting it out through my mouth. When I spoke, my voice was soft. I attempted to distract myself by trapping a rather large grasshopper between my paws and keeping it from escaping. “We were spying on the nearby human village because we’d seen a bunch of them wandering around our caves. I remember that it was one of my first missions to help our group and that I was the most excited I’d ever been in my entire life. But I was young and didn’t know the way back...so when we were spotted, we tried to run instead of leading them directly to the others. Something hit my mother and she fell down, so I lit a fire to block off the humans and we somehow managed to get away.”

 

It felt like it had just happened; like I was reliving those terrible moments. I picked up the grasshopper delicately, between claws, and looked up at Hiccup. He briefly glanced at it, a hint of pity in his eyes. I looked back at it, sighed, and dropped it to the side, where it immediately hopped away in frantic little bounces. “We ran into the open fields, where my mother collapsed from exhaustion. I thought that we were going to leave by morning, even though her wounds were deep, so I wasn’t too worried. I didn’t expect her to be unable to get up by sunrise.” Hiccup’s breath caught in sudden realization, causing my left ear to twitch towards him. “I tried to bring back food since she couldn’t hunt. For days we sat there…through thunderstorms and dry, terrible heat. And then, one day, I woke up...and she was gone.”

 

“So that’s why you freaked out when I got that scratch,” Hiccup whispered. His surprise gave way to understanding, and then what looked to be a sad form of happiness. “I…I…Thanks, Toothless.” He got up and dealt a swift head-butt to my chest. I brought my head back a little, surprise written across my entire face.

 

I nodded lamely. “Of course. It happened long ago, and it didn’t ruin my life. I survived and got over it…” As an afterthought, I joked, “And you’d _better_ be grateful! _Or else._ ” I really didn’t want to talk anymore.

 

Hiccup snorted and settled into a crouch, as tired of the incredibly serious, draining conversations as I was. “Or else what, O mighty dragon? What can you do if you can’t catch me?” He wiggled his rump at this with a daring look in his green eyes.

 

I smirked. Challenge accepted.                                 

 

I pushed off the ground and leaped at the unsuspecting Viking, a battle cry ripping from my throat. He screeched and scrambled away, but I was too fast! I grabbed his tail and dug my feet in the ground, holding my wings out for balance. With a massive heave, I pulled him close to me until he was close enough to pounce on. I sat on top of his shoulders and pushed his neck and chin into the earth, laughing maniacally.

 

“I win!” I cried. My tail swished and my ears slanted diagonally.

 

“You’re-crushing-my-neck,” Hiccup wheezed out, his tongue sticking out slightly.

 

I stepped off of him, rolling my eyes. A fish flipped out of the lake and flailed midair, immediately drawing my attention to the reflective pool of water. I didn’t forget to add in an insult, though. “You really need to learn how to move fast! I’ve seen quicker snails!” I boasted, licking a paw and running it over my cheek. “I mean, you’ve got _wings_ and— _AAAAH!_ ”

 

I couldn’t help but let out a (manly) squeal when a certain freckled Shadow-Blender charged right into me and somehow managed to knock me over! I rolled away from his front paws when he tried to slam them down on my chest. “Ha! You think I didn’t see that coming?!” I spun on my front paws, pushed off the ground with my hind legs, and catapulted myself into a shaky glide across the lake.

 

“Actually, no. You didn’t.” The swift sound of wings flapping told me that, once _again_ , Hiccup had decided that he liked to cheat. I snorted, watching him clumsily fly towards me, determination set in his entire body.

 

When my unsuspecting victim got closer, I began to back up onto a boulder behind me, clawing my way up it. Hiccup had barely any time to turn when he realized my plan; all he could do was rear midair, hold out his paws, and let out a wordless cry that might as well have meant, “oh, shit! I’m doomed!”

 

“Amateur!” I teased, leaping in the air and knocking Hiccup in the stomach. He fell harmlessly to the ground and I dove, snapped my wings open, and swooped over the deep end of the lake and into the shallow.

 

“Don’t think you can get away with that!” Hiccup yelled, his voice shaking with laughter.  His shadow swooped over me just as I managed to crawl out of the freezing depths of water. His plan almost made me fret, but unfortunately for him, the hybrid decided that simply stopping midair and dropping on top of me would be a good idea. He obviously didn’t expect me to see his shadow get bigger and roll out of the way! “ _Oof!_ ”

 

I cackled at the way the human-turned-dragon’s wings and legs were splayed out. He scrambled to his feet and shook his head to clear it, eyes squeezed shut. Taking my chance, I turned and sprinted away, jumping onto one boulder, and then a higher one, and then onto a ledge in the cliffside. There was a slight dip in it, just big enough for me to crawl into and hide my form. Once I’d situated myself, I froze, watching Hiccup as he looked around in confusion.

 

“Toothless?” He walked around warily, eyes wide and pupils becoming less circular and more like wide slits. I grinned widely, creeping up the rock when he walked past me. Then I leaped, flapped once, and folded my wings into my body, silently launching into him in seconds.

 

Toothless, one! Hiccup, zero!

 

The Viking shouted out in dismay when I leaned right over his head and smiled darkly, allowing him only a second to retaliate. I easily jumped off and away from him. “You’ll never catch me, fool! I’m _superior!_ ”

 

Hiccup took a battle stance, wings and tailfins held out wide, and shook his rear end playfully. “Thanks for the support. Really appreciate that!” With a heave, he pushed himself into the air, moving as fast as a dragon that just learned to fly could. “But prepare to lose anyways!” He dove for me, just barely missing when I ducked and rolled out of the way. To my great surprise, he managed to recover and swoop back into the air!

 

“I think _you_ should be the one preparing!” I retaliated, shooting a tiny fireball at him and missing (on purpose, of course!).

 

We continued this for hours, one of us tagging the other and ending up being chased. Usually, Hiccup, the poor thing, would _try_ to make a joke, but he really only ended up failing miserably at each and every single one of them. I felt it my duty as a Shadow-Blender to punish him for saying, “This is going to _drag-on!_ ” My method? Say _nothing_ but terrible dragon puns until he finally gave in and apologized to get me to shut the hell up.

 

I lost count of the score, but I’m pretty sure I won. Actually, I’m _very_ sure, despite what Hiccup would probably say.

 

It was only because of a fierce thunderstorm breaking above us that the game actually stopped. We both scrambled for the cover of the trees, but when the storm became irregular and violent, we were forced to take shelter in the cavern I’d created in the cliff wall nearly a week ago. It made me realize just how fast I had changed for Hiccup…and I was suddenly grateful to the gods for him shooting me into the cove.

 

We stayed inside the cavern the entire night, watching the storm swirl and boom and shake the earth. By the time we’d fallen asleep, though, it had calmed. Overnight and into the early morning, the clouds parted, giving room for the sun to rise once more.

 

* * *

 

_KRA-KA-BOOOOOM!_

A couple drunks in the corner of the room raised their glasses, cheered loudly, and downed an entire glass of mead each. I was amazed that they hadn’t fainted yet from their ridiculous drinking game. Then again, watching them take a giant gulp of alcohol with each thunderclap was _hilarious._

_RrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRR!_

“ _Aaaar!_ ”

“How are they _doing_ that?” Snotlout gasped in amazement from across the table.

 

“Like _this!_ ” Ruffnut reached over me and took the last of the two cups of mead she’d managed to sneak to our table. Before anyone could protest—we hadn’t gotten much of a chance to drink from _any_ of the smuggled goods, after all!—she’d managed to swallow the entire thing and slam the container on the table with a proud smirk. “It’s a fine skill.”

 

Tuffnut snorted, leaning back and into Snotlout and throwing a goose bone at her. “A fine skill you learned _just now_!” He laughed when his twin’s face contorted into one of bewilderment. “Also, I’m pretty sure that won’t help with you being hurt and all,” he added more seriously with a frown “I think. I dunno, Dad drinks whenever he feels bad,” he added with a shrug.

 

I rolled my eyes. “It’s a flesh wound now. She was sick for, like, three hours. I doubt it’ll do anything…except make her act funny.” I added the last sentence warily, hands folded in my lap and an eyebrow raised, when Ruffnut burst out into a fit of giggles. She held a hand to her lips, shaking her head at me. Behind her, Fishlegs tried his best not to howl with laughter.

 

“I don’t think ‘funny’ would describe it well,” said Viking commented around a mouthful of half-chewed meat. “How about…hmm…maybe…tipsy?”

 

“We know she meant that,” Tuffnut informed the ‘outsider’ with annoyance.

 

Snotlout chuckled, having ignored the exchange. “I bet she’ll pass out by midnight.”

 

Tuffnut responded almost as soon as he’d finished talking, saying, “I bet she’ll pass out before we leave!”

 

“Naaah. I’ll be _fine_ , guys!” Ruffnut crowed. She waved her arm at us, accidentally slapping me upside the head. I grunted in surprise and leaned away from the blond, irritation crossing my face for a moment. “I’m a woman who can hold her liquor!”

 

(Ruffnut ended up winning that bet, by the way.)

 

Her brother smirked. “I’m sure you are.”

 

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re just jealous.”

 

I snickered and grabbed onto Ruffnut when Tuffnut threw his hammer at her, causing her to scramble to catch it and nearly falling out of her seat and onto the ground. “Easy, now!” I scolded. “We don’t want you getting hurt _again._ ”

 

“ _Nooo! Not again!_ ” Ruffnut wailed, hand flying to cover her forehead dramatically.

 

“Hahahaha!” Snotlout grinned widely at me, forcing himself to laugh at my ‘joke’. I struggled not to grimace. “You _always_ know what to do, don’t you?” He purred, leaning over the table and holding his chin on two fists.

 

Another blast of thunder reverberated through the building. The group in the corner shouted, Ruffnut straightened out and stole my plate of food, and I awkwardly avoided responding to Snotlout’s flirting and completely missed my chance to get my precious meat back. It didn’t help that Tuffnut and Fishlegs said nothing, watching on with amusement in their eyes.

 

To distract myself, I grabbed one of Ruffnut’s chunks of mystery meat that she stole from me and took a massive bite out of it (snorting when she shrieked in protest) and shrugged at another compliment given to me via Snotlout. He added a couple more, and each time, I pretended to have my mouth full (Well, actually, it was. Maybe.). I still hadn’t figured out how to fix the whole ‘I kissed you’ thing with him, and I _really_ didn’t want to address it now.

 

Thank the gods that Snotlout has the shortest attention span in the world.

 

He got tired of receiving no response and twisted in his seat, towards Ruffnut’s brother. “By the way, good job with that Nadder today!” The burly teenager punched Tuffnut in the arm. “I mean, really, you were _right there_ and didn’t hit it!”

 

I rolled my eyes at this. I was pretty sure that they’d already had this conversation. But, hey, whatever. As long as it kept Snotlout from trying to pull a move on me in public. Now _that_ was terrifying! I’d rather be trapped in the Monstrous Nightmare’s cage with nothing but a measly dagger.

 

“At least I didn’t ‘ _get distracted by the sun_ ’,” Tuffnut made his voice sound comically dull and stupid, making air quotes with his fingers, “and completely miss it!” He grinned and ducked under a punch, backpedaling away from Snotlout to avoid being thrown off of his seat.

 

Fishlegs immediately went to work with his peacemaker duties. “Hey, guys! C’mon!” He moved forward and reached across the table. As he did, Ruffnut, grabbed his arm and pulled it as far back as she could, yelling about how she wanted to see the fight. Fishlegs let out a rather girly cry and stumbled backwards, falling out of his seat and hitting his head on the table’s leg. It took a few seconds, but the bulky teenager managed to climb his way under the table and in between Snotlout and Tuffnut, who both looked at him in utter shock.

 

“There you go!” I praised, laughing as I talked.

 

Tuffnut leaned over Fishlegs, his face threatening to rip in half from his smile. He continued the argument as if nothing had happened, “What’s wrong, big guy? Can’t accept your mistakes?”

 

“Shut up!” Snotlout tried to punch Tuffnut, but was quickly intercepted by Fishlegs. “At least I’m good at keeping my head instead of freezing up like you did!” He sat back, crossing his arms across his chest and looking very prideful. Ruffnut and I let out a long string of “Oooooooh!’s.” We shared a glance, silently agreeing to see how far we could watch this until it got out of hand. Snotlout and Tuffnut’s fights were the most comical thing you could see on Berk.

 

“I think you both—“ Fishlegs attempted to calm them down, but was quickly interrupted by the male twin.

 

“Keep your head? Yeah, that’s what you did when you ran away from Hiccup yesterday!” Immediately after saying this, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and I cringed. Tuffnut frowned, looking between the three of us in confusion. I checked to make sure Snotlout wasn’t looking, and when he wasn’t, sent the twin a fierce glare. It took him a few seconds, but his eyes widened and his mouth opened in a perfect ‘o’.

 

The second the words had left his best friend’s mouth, Snotlout’s smile and playfulness had seemed to vanish into thin air like a delicate smoke. He stared at his food directly in front of him, eyebrows slightly pulled down and a dangerous look on his face. His hands were firmly clenched together and he was sitting straight up in his chair. I’d never seen him so still in my life.

 

“Uh…uh…” Fishlegs stuttered, eyes darting back and forth. “Well, um…about that, guys…” He looked over at the unmoving Snotlout to his right and rapidly tapped his fingers together. “What are we gonna do, anyways? I mean…uh, I dunno…Like, are we going to do _anything_?”

 

I leaned forward and crossed my arms over the table. “What do you mean?”

 

We’d already established the fact that nobody would know about Hiccup and the Night Fury except for the five of us. It had taken awhile to convince Snotlout, but we’d ended up successful. A deal’s a deal; we may be Vikings, but we _are_ honorable. And if Hiccup could somehow _tame_ the Night Fury as he had down in the cove, then that meant that one of the biggest threats to the entire village was now gone. I was willing to sacrifice my pride—and the honor of telling the adult Vikings that I knew where both Night Furies were—if it would, overall, help everyone on Berk.

 

And he’d specifically gone out of his way to give my mother’s axe back to me. That meant _a lot_ , and not only because I really missed it. He’d willingly given me my most valuable weapon, standing not even a full meter away. He obviously trusted me to hold up my end of the deal. Even when his _stupid friend_ was yelling at him and nearly attacking me in the process—which he didn’t seem to even notice. This caused a mental eyeroll on my part.

 

I was still _very_ suspicious, though; I still wasn’t sure if Hiccup was being genuine or not. He _did_ seem very sorry. But he also made friends with the Night Fury. I really wasn’t sure of my opinion yet; I needed more time to think about it. I was leaning towards him truly trying to make amends, though.

 

Still, that one fact about Hiccup’s friendship with the Night Fury kept me from making a clear decision. It also served as another grounds to not tell anyone, though. Chief Stoick clearly loved Hiccup, going as far as to dedicate the next nest-hunt in his name and prepare the attack weeks beforehand—the longest delay we’d ever had, and cutting it _very_ close to winter. If he learned that his son had gone and become best buddies with the very thing that ‘killed’ him, well…I doubt even our Chief could handle that. And then the entire tribe would be at war with itself, desperately searching for a new leader and trying to find a way to kill off both Night Furies.

 

The sealing factor was that Hiccup had proven that he _was_ still himself, as Fishlegs had explained. If Hiccup somehow managed to stay that way, even after banishment, then I couldn’t find it in myself to want to kill him. If you thought of Hiccup as a human in a dragon body—which he was, for now—then you could easily see that his friendship could be a brilliant plan to keep him safe. And Hiccup was well-known for his intelligence, even though he always screwed things up.

 

So the chances of him trying to convince the Night Fury to reverse the spell was very high, obviously. I was going to give it more time, to see if he really _could_ accomplish that.

 

I was still going to keep a close eye on him, though. If he lost himself enough or turned on the Vikings, then I wouldn’t feel any guilt in killing him.

 

Fishlegs frowned and continued tapping his fingers. “Well, he agreed not to steal, and he said that the only reason he stole in the first place was because he would have starved if he didn’t. Are we going to bring back food or something?”

 

I could easily feel the surprise on my face. I hadn’t thought of that.

 

Ruffnut shrugged, resting her chin in her palm. “I guess so. That gives us an excuse to go back and check on Hiccup, anyways, and see if he really can hold his word.” I nodded in agreement at this. Couldn’t have said it better myself!

 

“Maybe he can help us get better at dragon training!” Tuffnut piped up excitedly. And loudly. We all shushed him loudly, causing him to shrink back and pout. Luckily for us, the only other people in the building were the drunks in the corner.

 

“Somehow I doubt that,” I said sarcastically, remembering how the Night Fury had nearly attacked Fishlegs when all he’d done was touch Hiccup. It really _was_ strange how attached that thing seemed to be towards the Chief’s son.

 

Fishlegs calmed down and suddenly perked up. He grinned and excitedly told us, “Maybe we can see if Hiccup can find where the nest is? I mean, that would make the nest-hunt _so_ much easier!”

 

“But we’re not going. And how could we tell Chief Stoick without telling him we know about Hiccup?” I pointed out. The building began to vibrate around us from the intensity of the storm.

 

Fishlegs slumped over. “Oh. Right.”

 

Ruffnut pushed her emptied plate away from her and on top of Tuffnut’s (who scowled and pushed both of them back towards her.). “I wonder if there _is_ anything we could do to help five of us? There must be _something_ , right?”

 

I shrugged unhelpfully. “Like what? All I can think of is training, and I’d rather not get blasted by that Night Fury.”

 

“I’d love to document more about that species, though,” Fishlegs groaned. “If only the others knew! Then we could learn _so_ much! I’m no professional, but I’m positive that we could figure out so many things from those two. We’ve never really seen how dragons normally act around others.” He waved his hands and made odd gestures while saying this. Everyone gave him a blank stare.

 

_BOOOOOOM!_

 

I flinched at the loud noise, looking up at the ceiling. It was starting to leak heavily. Outside, the storm began to pick up at a very fast pace, promising to keep at it until late morning.

 

Ruffnut patted me in the shoulder. “Uh, do you think that we should all be heading home before we get stuck in here?” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “I don’t want to spend the entire night with those idiots.” At this, she gestured with her head towards the drunks, who were currently having…not a food fight…not a verbal fight…not even a _real_ fight…but a chair fight.

 

All of us made noises of universal agreement. We _so_ did not want to get involved in that.

 

I stood up, wiping some crumbs and dirt off of my armored skirt, and addressed the rest of the gang. “I think, for now, that we should bring back food sometime. Like Ruffnut said, it’ll help us watch Hiccup without making it obvious that we are. But we’ll have to wait, since it’d look suspicious if _another_ basket went missing. Other than that, I think that we’ve got it all figured out,” I concluded. “I mean, we made the deal and told Hiccup that we’re coming back. Everything should be fine if Hiccup keeps up his end, right?”

 

“Right!” Fishlegs confirmed. “And he will,” he added confidently. As he said this, he and everyone else began to stand up, piling their plates in the middle of the table and walking towards me.

 

Tuffnut laughed. “Wow, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad that we went down there and almost got killed!” He moved around me and besides his sister, a cautious look momentarily crossing his features.

 

‘Do you got her?’ I mouthed at him, to which he nodded. Ruffnut may _think_ that she was fine, but she was technically supposed to be spending most of her time resting. Just because a little food and a lot of mead in her belly made her feel better, didn’t mean that she was fully healed. Thank Odin Tuffnut knew this.

 

The girl in question chuckled as well. “I’m saying! I’m not the hopeful type, but we may actually find a way to work things out.” She beamed at me, which I hesitantly returned. I wasn’t about to go all in, after all. I needed more proof.

 

We reached the door and pushed it open, carefully looking out into the storm. The rain was barreling down and lightning was flashing frequently. The wind nearly knocked me back and I had to readjust my stance to keep from toppling over.

 

“Well, it’s now or never,” Fishlegs decided. He turned to us, grinned, and waved. “See yah!” And then he took off into the black storm, quickly becoming invisible behind the rain.

 

“Bye!” We all called out.

 

Ruffnut nudged me. “We’re gonna go, too. See you tomorrow!”

 

“I’ll go with you,” I rushed. My house was very close to hers, and I was worried that Tuffnut couldn’t get my best friend home before she got sick. Behind her, he gave me a thankful look, confirming my doubts.

 

With a wave at Snotlout, the three of us ran out into the storm. The rain was cold and the wind irregular. At times, it would rush at you and take your breath away. I’m not quite sure how, but Ruffnut somehow managed to keep up a moderately good pace. Eventually, though, she became too exhausted, and Tuffnut was forced to carry her the rest of the way home.

 

I stopped by their house, greeted their parents, and chatted with them for a couple minutes. Then Smallelf shooed me off, saying how my parents must have been worried sick.

 

The sprint home was short and uneventful; my house was less than a quarter mile from the twins’. In minutes I was inside, saying hello to my parents and then bidding them goodnight. The house was silent and warm, the only sounds being my father’s snoring and the rain and thunder.

 

It wasn’t until I’d nearly fallen asleep did I realize that Snotlout hadn’t said a word since Hiccup had been mentioned.


	8. Chapter 8

One week.

 

One week since we last saw the humans. Two weeks since Hiccup turned into a dragon.

 

Surprisingly, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Most of the time Hiccup and I just spent the day doing random activities. He likes to initiate elaborate games of hide-and-seek-tag out of sheer boredom. Sometimes, I can’t use my wings at all and neither can he. Others, it’s an instant ‘point’ loss if either of us climbs on anything. We even had a game that was restricted to the shallow lake, which, in my opinion, was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Hiccup was too stubborn to get out of the water and we ended up huddling for _hours_ because he got so cold his entire body went numb. Mostly because he thought he was clever for hiding underwater, but couldn’t seem to stop himself from waving his tail in excitement and thus _disturbing_ the water. Also, he had a strange habit of blowing air out of his nose instead of just keeping it inside him to stay under longer. And for some reason I always had to count to one-hundred-thirty.

 

Damn, I was rambling. Picked that nasty habit up from Hiccup. Anyways. The most important aspect of this entire week: Hiccup and I did not get into a fight. It may not sound big, but to me—admittedly the most argumentative dragon in the northern hemisphere—it really is a big achievement. I didn’t blow anything out of proportion like I did when Hiccup first returned with the food. And he didn’t lose his temper like when he threw me down and told me off during our meeting with the humans. The strange thing, though, is that neither of us had to make an effort to do either of those. We agreed. And if we didn’t, we respected each others’ opinions. Even in the more serious conversations; magic had been brought up a lot, reminding me of the promise I’d made so long ago. We’d also talked several times about the humans. Hiccup still has faith in them.

 

However, he _is_ beginning to worry. But certainly not as much as me.

 

The mornings were the worst, most nerve-wracking parts of the day. I could only catch a few hours of sleep—no big deal, I’ve dealt with worse—and was constantly on the lookout for any raids. It _is_ the Viking way to attack an enemy when he is most defenseless. With that logic, every time I heard a twig snap, or a group of birds bolt out of a tree in a panic, or just felt a complete _emptiness_ in the forest around me, I would awake with a start and promptly climb my lookout tree to seek out invaders. There never were, thank the gods, but it didn’t calm my nerves.

 

Hiccup still doesn’t know about my morning routine. I make sure to climb down my lookout tree before he wakes up, lying next to him in the same spot that I have been for the past couple days. It always baffles me how _happy_ he is every time he wakes up and sees me. It’s almost like he’s grateful that I haven’t run off in the night and abandoned him. I know it’s selfish, but I’m always glad to see that look in his eyes, the way it makes me feel important. Needed.

 

After that, we’d go through the usual day. And then the nights would come and my paranoia would rise like a hungry fire, slowly consuming me, and the whole cycle would start over again. It was driving me insane.

 

But the worst, most humiliating part of this entire situation? We have no food. Because of the fish ‘basket’ that Hiccup brought back, _I_ am in no immediate danger. Shadow-Blenders are small and have slow metabolisms, allowing us to live long off of a small amount of food. Hiccup, on the other hand…

 

His human portion of his body, the part that keeps his color and freckles present, affects him terribly. His senses are less than perfect and his size is laughable. What worries me, though, is that the human part of him seems to make his magic either more powerful than normal or regenerate _very_ fast. But that’s something that I can worry about later.

 

The problem is that he gets malnourished and weaker faster than a regular dragon. Earlier this day, during the morning, Hiccup had chased an unlucky (and tiny) fish in the shallow end of the lake. When the fish escaped into the deep end—which Hiccup is still afraid of—and he’d clambered out, he could barely catch his breath.

 

If we didn’t get ourselves something to eat soon, then Hiccup would be unable to leave the cove and we’d starve. Upon this realization, coupled with the near-constant worrying about a Viking raid, I decided that I needed to find out once and for all if I really _could_ leave the cove. The last time I’d tried, I was slightly injured from being attacked by Hiccup and too pissed off to think straight. So maybe I could now.

 

Standing up from my comfortable spot on a stone and shaking my body, I sniffed the air, taking in the scents around me. It was midday and the sun was shining down in an unusually warm fashion. So, like any sane dragon, we’d taken a break from tag and put the summer weather to good use to sunbathe. Oh, it felt glorious! Shaking it off to do actual work was almost painful.

 

Hiccup stirred besides me and groaned. I butted him with my head. This would be the first time he’d woken up since that inspiring fish chase and I wasn’t going to try to leave without him knowing.

 

“Hiccup, I’m going to see if I can get out of here.”

 

“Again?” The hybrid mumbled, so quiet I had to strain my ears to hear him. “Mm’kay. Good luck.” His breathing evened out and his muscles relaxed, signaling that he’d fallen back asleep. I frowned worriedly. A couple days ago, he would have leaped to his feet to help or at least asked me why. The uncharacteristic lack of interest from him was unnerving _._

 

I waited several seconds for him to do anything else. When I got nothing, I murmured a quick “Thanks”, sniffed, and hurried over to my lookout tree. My determination rose when I got to it, filling me with more hope than ever. It took me seconds to climb to the top and I faced the cliffwall parallel to the one I was closest to (the lowest one), opening my wings and tailfins in preparation. My eyes narrowed and I took in a long, deep breath.

 

_You can do this_ , I encouraged myself, _you’re stronger now. You and Hiccup both need it._ I bunched up my muscles, double-checked my position and the direction of the wind, and launched.

 

I immediately went into the gliding position, flapping my wings to keep me level. Advancing over the lake was easy. The edge of the cliff became closer than I’d ever seen it before. I was going to make it! I was going to make it—

 

“Aaah!” _Not again!_ The air under my left side suddenly grew unstable from the wind generated by my wings. I tipped to the side and desperately tried to maintain level, but it was no use! I was starting to flip over! All I could do was roar in disdain and turn so my shoulder hit the wall directly in the middle, sending rocks and mud tumbling to the ground!

 

“ _Oof!_ ” I landed on a small jut of rock. It crumbled under my weight. “ _Damn it!_ ” I knocked into a boulder and scrambled to grab onto it with my claws, but the rain from the previous night had made it slimy and wet. I slid off. “ _GREAT DRAGON OF THE SUN—!”_ The ground gave me a merciless hello, knocking the wind right out of me.

 

Well, _that_ was successful.

 

I heaved a breath and lifted my tail and right wing off my chest, rolling to the right and examining my left wing. It ached terribly, but besides being sore, it was fine. I sighed in relief. A broken wing would surely kill me. Just to make sure, I flapped it a couple times.

 

After a few seconds, I slumped in defeat. I should have known better to try and escape the day after another thunderstorm; the walls of the grove may have stone in them, but a great portion of them were also mud, several slimy vines, and enormous tree roots! Of course I wouldn’t be able to climb my way up; it was too wet! There wasn’t anything to grab hold of! And to add insult to injury, the _same exact_ failure had happened about a week and a half ago when I’d first tried to escape! I shouldn’t have forgotten.

 

Cursing my stupidity, I began to stomp my way over to where Hiccup was. He was sitting up straight, worry clear in his body language even from my distance from him. I didn’t care. I was mortified and _covered. In. Mud_. No amount of optimism and joking would make this moment okay. Ever. I made a mental note to try to find a dragon to rip the memory out—permanently—and then destroy its vessel into little tiny pieces. And then burn it. And then crush the ashes.

Now, where would I find a dragon to do that? They’re quite hard to find—oh! Wow, I got here fast.

 

Sitting down with a huff next to Hiccup, I got to work cleaning myself. The mud tasted disgusting and even had a few bugs in it. To make matters worse, Hiccup decided to watch me, obviously wanting to say something but too afraid to speak up. I pointedly ignored him.

 

A moment of consideration passed and I stood up, flustered, and walked over to a patch of long, thick grass. Then I proceeded to roll around in it.

 

Hiccup burst out into laughter. Embarrassment coursed through my body. I twisted and turned as quickly as I could, stood up, and rapidly shook my body, flinging bits of leaves, soil, and rocks everywhere. When I looked down, I was satisfied to see that the majority of the mud had come right off! Though there were a few spots that I would have to fix myself…eugh...

 

With as much dignity as I could, I stepped away from the flattened, dirty grass and got rid of the remaining filth on my body. My _great friend_ was nearly howling with laughter. Yes, I would definitely have this memory removed. Permanently.

 

“You’re just jealous because I could get it off so fast,” I muttered.

 

Hiccup, having heard this, fell to the ground and onto his back, barely able to form words. “What are you, a _dog?_ I have _never_ seen that before! Hahahaha!”

 

I rolled my eyes and sat down, splaying my wings out. “No, I’m a Shadow-Blender! And at least I’m putting in an effort to stay clean, unlike a certain _someone._ ” Hiccup stopped laughing abruptly and I smirked. “You flew yourself right into that one.”

 

The brown Shadow-Blender gave me a mocking glare. The look fell, however, and he frowned. Turning around and lying on his stomach, Hiccup asked, “Uh, and what exactly were you doing? Not that I didn’t enjoy waking up to you screaming colorful profanities.”

 

I suppressed an embarrassed smile. “I was trying to get out! I thought maybe I could hunt down some deer, or maybe a few mountain lions,” I mused. “I’d rather have fish, but keeping us fed is more important.” I sighed, hunching over slightly. “But I can’t get out. Not now.”

 

Hiccup nodded. “It did rain,” he murmured, looking at something behind me. More loudly, he added, “But you don’t need to worry about that stuff, Toothless. Astrid said she would come back, which probably means she’ll bring food. And if she doesn’t think of that, then Fishlegs will.” He smiled at me. I was unconvinced.

 

“It’s been a week, Hiccup,” I pointed out. “I think that by now, we’d have heard from them.”

 

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I mean, they’d have to get the food from _somewhere._ And a basket of the stuff can’t just disappear in quick succession from the last one. They’re probably waiting for everything in Berk to cool down.” Then his innocent, hopeful smile returned. One I was quickly associating with the humans and Hiccup’s blind trust in them. It was _infuriating._

 

“But how do you _know—_ “

 

“Toothless!” Hiccup held up a paw at me, voice commanding but gentle. I hadn’t even realized that someone could speak in that way. ”Calm down. We’ll be fine.” He grinned up at me, eyes shining. “They promised.”

 

I sighed, shaking my head. It was impossible to talk sense into this dragon.

 

Hiccup continued as an afterthought, mostly talking to himself, “Besides, they’re probably busy with dragon training.”

 

My ears pricked. Dragon training?

 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s that?” Part of me didn’t want to know. And Hiccup knew. He cringed slightly, dragging his eyes down to his feet and scratching into the dirt for a moment. I repeated the question impatiently, a stone sinking in my gut.

 

He chuckled sheepishly. “Well…um…I’m not sure about your people, but, uh, Vikings sometimes take…prisoners.” I sucked in a breath and he grimaced, tucking in his head and avoiding all eye contact. “And those dragons are caged in an arena, except when they’re let out, when they’re being used to…teach future warriors…uh, fighters…how to fight dragons.” The last part was nearly whispered.

 

It took me a very long time to comprehend that. It made no sense to me—what, did they just walk over and point out weak spots? Plus, no dragon would _ever_ betray its brethren _willingly—_

 

I stood up, face wrinkled with rage. “So, you mean,” I hissed, “that innocent dragons are being used as _training accessories?!_ ” When Hiccup said nothing, risking a single, guilty glance up at me, I lost the tiny grip of restraint I had left. “So, what?! They’re just barely kept alive?! They’re trapped? And when they’re let out, they obviously want to defend themselves, and they’re just treated like _playthings?!_ ” I roared, pacing and slamming the ground with my paw.

 

I whipped around to face Hiccup, body tensed and tail whipping back and forth. “How long are they kept there? How are these **_coward_** warriors taught? Are they fed? Are their injuries tended to?!” Sudden realization dawned on me, and I froze, eyes widening. “Please tell me these trainees know what they’re doing before they let them in the arena. They don’t just randomly _stab_ a dragon, right?”

 

Hiccup sighed, sitting up. “The guy who runs dragon training, Gobber, has been my mentor since I was little...well, littler. He never explains _anything_ …so…no. His favorite phrase is ‘learn on the job!’” I gaped at him. “As for everything else…the dragons are kept there until they die. And I’m not sure how much food they’re given, but Gobber does mention that he has to get a medic for them, but that’s only when they’re physically unable to fight. But…” he sighed. “I…it’s just…I don’t really hear much of those dragons after they get sick.”

 

His green eyes rose to meet mine. He looked desperate. “Toothless…I’m sorry. But just to let you know, I was never a part of that…my Dad wouldn’t let me.”

 

I slowly shook my head. “Unbelievable.” The anger in my chest boiled, reaching its limits. A small part of me whispered to calm down and I ignored it. “UNBELIEVABLE!” I spun around and shot a blast of fire at an unfortunate boulder, letting loose a long string of curses. Hiccup recoiled, ears standing straight from my choice of words. His mouth moved up and down for several seconds before he finally found his voice.

 

“Toothless, please—“

 

I jerked my head towards him. “So these dragons—who can’t even help what they’re doing—are being held in cages and only let out when your Vikings _want_ to let them out? To _PLAY_ with them?! And they aren’t even given time to recuperate?! And none of your tribe-mates ever thought that, oh, _it was_ _wrong?!_ What is _the matter_ with them?!” I spat.

 

Hiccup frowned. He weakly defended his former comrades, “They don’t know about the spell. All they see is the dragons raiding out of nowhere.”

 

“But we don’t take prisoners!” I cried. “We _never_ bring in humans! Why should they think that they can take in our kind! What is your King thinking?” I stared at Hiccup for a long, tense, moment, and blurted, “What if they took you or me in?!”

 

The bond between us formed once more. My words had hit Hiccup like a tidal wave, despair bouldering over him for a brief second before he began to imagine the consequences.

 

I quickly turned away, too afraid to find what his imagination could come up with, and snarled, “I can’t even begin to try and understand that _devil’s_ work.” I swiveled my head around to look back at Hiccup, causing him to stop in his approach towards me. “And another thing! You just want to sit around and do _nothing_ while they’re being taught to kill us?! Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?! I would have started teaching you already!”

 

“T-teaching?” The Shadow-Blender stammered, rearing his head back.

 

“Yes!” I began to pace. “You have _no idea_ how to defend yourself. And neither do those humans, but they’re being trained to kill us now!” I snarled wordlessly at the thought, sympathy for the poor dragons in this ‘arena’ welling up inside me. It was downright _wrong._ And it meant that Hiccup and I— _especially_ Hiccup—were in even _more_ danger. “If there were an attack, you’d be completely helpless. All your fighting techniques I’ve _ever_ seen you do have been reckless and dangerous!” I turned to him, ears slightly pinned back, and puffed my chest up determinedly. “Let’s start.”

 

Hiccup shook his head, ears straight up and leaning back slightly. “What? _No!_ ”

 

I gritted my teeth. Now was not the time to be stubborn! We had a lot of catching up to do to make sure Hiccup at least matched the teenagers in skill. “ _Yes!_ We’re starting now!”

 

With a loud _thump!_ , the hybrid was lying on the ground. He draped his wings over his body and the grass around him and rested his nose on his tailtip, using his tailfins to block his face from my view. “No! You can’t make me! I won’t do it!” His voice wasn’t whiney or annoyed like I’d expected, taking in his immaturity at this point. Oh, no. He sounded hurt and genuinely _angry._

 

I paused for a split second. _It’s for his own good_ , I reasoned. _Even if he doesn’t like it, he needs to be able save himself._

 

Hiccup didn’t budge when I advanced. I stood directly over him and narrowed my eyes, trying my best to look intimidating. “Hiccup,” I started, “I’m going to make you if you don’t agree. You need to learn how to protect yourself.” While I was trying to keep from insulting him, I couldn’t honestly bring myself to care; I was more concerned with his inability to think about his own health. It was like he believed he couldn’t possibly get hurt!

 

When silence was my only answer, I got angry. “Hiccup, I’m warning you,” I growled. I wasn’t afraid to rough him up a bit; half-sheathed claws and teeth never hurt anybody. All I had to do was make him go on the defensive and then point out what to do and what not to while I ‘attacked’ him. Then I’d repeat the same moves until he figured out how to react to certain assaults.

 

What I couldn’t understand was why he was so reluctant!

 

Hiccup raised his head and gave me a good, long glare. “I’m _not_ going to attack my own tribe! Those are my friends and family!” He pinned his ears and side-frills against his head, tailtip twitching.

 

Oh. _This_ was his problem. And it was probably one of the most ridiculous things I’d ever heard. “Even if they attack first?” I asked sarcastically.

 

“Even then.” The dragon held his angry look while mine changed to one of horror.

 

“ _Hiccup!_ ” I exploded, leaping back. “So you’d just stand still and let them _kill_ you? Imprison you? That makes no sense! And,” I’d been pacing and stopped abruptly in front of him, “They’re not your tribe-mates anymore! They banished you! They’re rotten!”

 

Hiccup jumped to his feet. “They still are!” He cried, crouching low to the ground. “Astrid and the others proved it when they didn’t attack either of us!”

 

Shaking my head, I said, “They’re humans! Dragons _never_ trust humans! It’s a fatal mistake, as is choosing to _not_ learn how to _defend yourself!_ ” I added with a hiss. Even if he still was ‘one of them’, he needed to learn to save himself from _other_ dragons! He had tunnel vision and refused to look in the right direction.

 

“ _I’m_ human!” Hiccup shot back just as fiercely.

 

“ _Were_ human,” I corrected. That was probably one of the more ridiculous things I’d heard him say. Yet he still looked just as upset as before, failing to see my reasoning. I sighed, suddenly realizing I may have gone too far. Again. Damn. “Why can’t you see that all I want is for you to be able to protect—“

 

Hiccup wasn’t done yet, though. He angrily shouted, “If I were human _right now_ , would you trust me?!”

 

Immediately, I exclaimed, “ _Of course!_ Are you crazy?” Hiccup was _different._ He wasn’t like the others. He was kind and caring and understanding. While all humans and some dragons were blocked by mental barriers, he just waltzed right through them. He was a very _special_ person. I would go as far as to say that I’d let him ride on my back if he’d magically returned to his previous form.

 

We both dropped into silence. The bond burst to life.

 

Hiccup was _scared_. He was terrified of rejection after having so much taken away from him, even before I changed him into a dragon. He didn’t want to think about attacking humans because he still wanted their acceptance. Especially his damn father’s, who, from what I could get, was the biggest idiot to grace the planet with his existence. But something worse lurked beneath the terror; he was afraid of something else. He felt like he, personally, had been challenged, but had been unable to understand himself. He didn’t truly know if they were his people anymore. This line of thought was suddenly cut off and blocked from me. It was like a mental slap, leaving me dazed.

 

It finally dawned on me that the question he’d asked—would you trust me?—had meant everything to him. He had wanted _my_ acceptance as well. If I’d said ‘no’, our relationship would have shattered.

 

When I blinked out of my temporary mental paralyzation, Hiccup’s emotions had drifted between relief and happiness from my answer. The waves coming off of him switched to confusion when he sensed my earlier panic—ah, shit! Quick! Think of something else!

 

Forcing over a wave of apology towards him, I let my inner monologue from before sit at the front of my mind—yes, even the stupid ‘ride my back’ part—and couldn’t help but smile sheepishly when his jaw dropped. Most likely about the latter.

 

The climate of the situation eventually became awkward, with neither of us saying anything. I dropped the connection between us by looking at some colorful birds. Hiccup sat up and leaned back on his haunches, looking very pleased—probably that he’d gotten me to ‘understand’.

 

“All I want,” I said softly, assuming the same position, “is for you to know how to take care of yourself, and not just from humans. A rogue dragon may wander in tomorrow and decide to declare this area as his or her territory. And what if a strong predator comes in here? Don’t laugh, those disgusting fluffballs carry a lot of diseases.”

 

“It’s nice to know that you’re afraid of a little doggy or kitty,” Hiccup remarked with a chuckle. He tipped his head to the side and asked in a much more serious tone, “But…I’m not really comfortable with this. Fighting, I mean.”

 

Standing up and shaking my head, I reminded him, “I never said ‘fight’. Today, I’ll just teach you how to defend yourself. You’re too…too _gentle_ to actually hurt something.” I rolled my eyes along with this. The smaller dragon scoffed dramatically and pretended to be offended.

 

“Alright,” I said, “let’s start.”

 

I promptly crouched, spread my wings out, and tackled Hiccup to the ground. He shrieked at the sudden assault. I couldn’t help but laugh at the priceless look on his face. “Lesson one,” I stated, making sure I made a point of trapping all four of his legs to the ground before stepping away, “ _never_ let yourself get pinned. That’s what happens right before the bottom of your throat gets ripped out.”

 

Grimacing, my trainee rolled onto his stomach and, as he considered this, brought up an arm to rub his cheek. “ _Thank yooou_ for that wonderful mental picture. I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.”

 

I chortled. “I’m just saying what would happen. So, what do _you_ think you should do if you’re about to be pinned?” I settled casually into a battle stance, taking notice of the way Hiccup’s right ear twitched in annoyance.

 

He hummed thoughtfully, his expression becoming vacant as he went into deep thought. He was deliberately silent for nearly a full minute, in which I shifted back and forth impatiently. “Well…when we fought that one time, I smacked you with my wings and you stopped…”

 

“That was from surprise,” I said. “Don’t expect it to work again. Also, that leaves you even _more_ vulnerable. I’ll get back to that later.” Hiccup closed his mouth, the question he’d been about to ask fading away.

 

His face scrunched up in concentration, and the freckled Shadow-Blender pawed at the dirt absentmindedly. “Um…roll away?”

 

I nodded. “That could work, but only if you’re fast enough. Here.” I stalked towards him and wiggled my rump. “Pin me. I’ll show you.” When he showed hesitation, I encouraged, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! Just do what I just did.”

 

There was a beat, and then Hiccup stooped down with a resigned sigh. I smirked when he took in my (proper) position and adjusted to mimic it. _Well, there goes one problem_ , I thought. _And here comes another!_ I braced myself when the former Viking all-out sprinted, lowered himself below me, and jumped right onto me. He grabbed my shoulders in his claws and forced all of his body weight into them, knocking me up and back. As we moved midair, he spread his wings to their full extent and _very_ low to the ground—and now we’ve got another lesson to cover. _Sigh._ —and moved his paws to my wrists.

 

We hit the ground hard. Hiccup had succeeded in disabling my front legs, which was far better than I expected. I smirked at his triumphant expression and proceeded to crush it.

 

While we were still skidding across the ground, I curled up, raising my abdomen into the air with my powerful back muscles in a backwards roll. I pressed my hind legs into Hiccup’s stomach as we tumbled and shoved as hard as I could, using the force of his own blow against him. Because I kept our movement going instead of letting us drag on the ground, he was thrown several meters behind me. I completed my fancy acrobatics, pushing off the earth with my shoulders and curling my front legs in. When I rolled to the point where I wasn’t upside-down, I flapped my wings to counteract my momentum and leaped to my feet.

 

I turned around, determined to be modest. Quite a shame that I failed so splendidly when I saw Hiccup lying on his back, groaning and moaning. Oh well, serves him right for laughing at me when I was covered in mud!

 

“That hurt, thanks for the concern,” he grumbled when I’d made my way over to him. “I didn’t know you were going to do _that!_ ”

 

I raised a brow. “What did you expect?”

 

He pushed himself to his feet with a grunt and shrugged. “I don’t know. Not that.” Hiccup frowned, looking lost in thought, and said, “So if I ever get thrown to the ground, use my hind legs to push them away when we land?”

 

I nodded. “Unless they’re also blocked. Then you twist midair and use your shoulder to free your front paws. Maybe add a little bit of fire, which we _won’t_ be doing today.”

 

“How much exactly are you planning on teaching me?” Hiccup asked with wide eyes. He was completely relaxed, leaning back on his haunches with his tail wrapped neatly around his paws. I could still see past his exterior and knew that he felt a little intimidated.

 

I didn’t respond. Instead, I pretended to turn and walk away, only to suddenly spin around and slam my entire body into his chest. I grabbed for his hind legs with my own, pushing them together before he could kick me—which was his first reaction, thank the Dragon of the Sun—and simultaneously forced his front legs back. Holding my breath and position, I waited.

 

Hiccup’s wings snapped open and he struggled to get away from me. He managed to lower his left elbow enough to force my arm down, causing me to lean to the right and arch my back. When I purposely faltered, he gave me a swift uppercut to my neck with the blunt end of his wing and jabbed my upper arm with his bony shoulder. I let go and leaped away, landing neatly on the ground while my student toppled into a tree-colored heap.

 

All of this happened in seconds. A wingbeat.

 

“Good job!” I praised. “You remembered. Now do it again.”

 

“ _Auugh._ ”

“And make sure to keep your wings away from me at all times. Did you see the way I had mine opened, yet far away from your reach?” I asked.

 

The reluctant trainee nodded. “You said you were going to come back to that. Something about them being vulnerable?”

 

I nodded and said, “Well, yes. As you can see,” I brought my tail around and waved it at him, “our wing and tailfin membranes aren’t as strong as our scales. They’re the most important part of your body, and your weakest points. The Dragon of the Sun and the Dragoness of the Moon made us that way so we wouldn’t forget that they are our gifts. Anyways, a tear in your wing is not only agonizing—and they bleed like head wounds—but fatal in some cases, since the dragon can’t fly away. If they do, then the membrane just rips apart until there’s nothing left.” Smiling sadly, I continued, “And you already know what a disrupted tail does.”

 

A chilly wind whipped about, rustling the trees and making the spotted shadows we were standing in ruffle. Hiccup shuddered from nose to tailtip, squeezing his eyes shut and pulling his wings in for warmth. I grimaced as I took in his skinny frame. He’d lost a lot of weight in this past week.

 

The moment passed and my friend acted like nothing had happened. “Okay, that makes sense. I probably should have thought of that earlier.”

 

“Of course you should have.” I grinned and whacked Hiccup in the cheek with my tail. “Stupidhead.”

 

He yelped and shook his head madly to get rid of the stinging. “J-jerkface!” Hiccup whined and held his face with his paw, giving me a wide-eyed, ‘why would you do that?’ look that greatly resembled a kicked dragon hatchling. I almost broke under the pressure of the sheer _cute_.

 

Key word: almost. I am a very strong-willed dragon, after all. Ha-ha-ha!

 

Darting as fast as I could, I jumped to my feet and spun around Hiccup several times, using the tree as a jumping pedal to confuse him. When he was looking in the complete opposite direction, I grabbed his scruff, hauled him to his feet, and then threw him into the ground. Smiling rather sadistically, I pressed a paw onto the hybrid’s chest, strong enough to hold him down and keep him still.

 

Hiccup could only bring himself to gasp repeatedly, flabbergasted. I resisted the urge to laugh my spines off.

 

“Lesson numbers three and four!” I announced. “Always keep your eye on the enemy. And now it’s time to learn some defensive blocks.” Releasing him from my hold, I backed up until both of us were completely ready before squaring my feet and half-opening my wings besides me. Hiccup complained dramatically.

 

“Now, even though I told you that your wings are the most vulnerable part of your body,” I began, nodding in approval when Hiccup took on the same stance as I was, “they can be used to glance off blows. For example, a Two-Leg might try to swing their tail at you, which is considered very dangerous because of their poison spikes. But if you were to block it with your wing and keep moving it, then it’ll rebound on them. Like this.”

 

I faced an invisible enemy, pretending to dodge an attack by jumping to the side. Still keeping my right wing half-opened, I pushed it down so the elbow was parallel with the grass. Immediately afterwards I swung it up, opening it as I did, and skipped backwards. Hiccup watched with great interest, leaning forward and ears perked.

 

I relaxed back into my ‘ready’ stance. “Do you understand how that would work?” At Hiccup’s nod, I continued, “Your wings can also withstand fireblasts and _some_ direct attacks. If a dragon or human is trying to claw at you, only protect yourself with your wings if you can do nothing else. There’s always the risk of them being powerful enough to break through.”

 

“So,” Hiccup piped up, “if I keep the attack moving, it’ll deal less damage because it’ll just skid past me? Like how you kept rolling during that tackle to avoid getting crushed?”

 

Beaming like the sun, I said, “Yes, exactly! The key is motion.” As I said this, I swayed back and forth, grinning widely. Hiccup valiantly suppressed laughing. “But be careful. If you stop or let them apply more pressure mid-block, it can still hurt you very badly.”

 

The hybrid made an acknowledging gesture with his paw. “So, can I do the same thing with my legs or tail?”

 

“Yes. But there’s better ways to do it. I was just about to get to that,” I explained. After an awkward silence, I continued, “Okay, guess I’ll explain it now...”

 

“You see, with your wings, you have to be careful. But dragon scales are very thick and can withstand blows that a human cannot. Don’t forget that and shy away from an attack thinking it’ll dig deep,” I told him seriously. His ears fell back and his side-frills twitched in embarrassment. “What I usually do is knock whatever’s coming towards me out of the way. Shadow-Blenders are some of the more flexible dragons. As you know, you can reach up to your head and very far out, while other dragons are limited by less flexible legs. Use it to your advantage. If you see a bite coming towards you, rear up and do this.”

 

I pushed myself onto my hind legs at a vertical angle, using my tail and wings to balance, and ‘grabbed’ a Flame-Body’s cheek with both paws and swung it to the side. Then I leaped on its ‘neck’ and bit down on it.

 

“You can also do this.”

 

This time, the Flame-Body was coming from below, aiming for my underbelly. I jumped back and slammed my paws down on its head, pretending to crush it.

 

Hiccup spoke up again, “What if it comes from your direct left or right?” He tipped his head to the side. “Just smack it away?”

 

I shook my head frantically at this. “No! You’ll end up hitting the side of their mouth and lose a paw.” My heart skipped a beat at the thought. “You’d either jump away and let them go past you so you can get their neck, or use your forearm and smack their chin up.” I did a swift demonstration of both and finished, “I suggest the former. There’s still a chance of getting bit with the last option, and to be fair, it’s a little advanced for you. Better safe than sorry, right?”

 

Instead of answering, the newbie did a swift array of the five blocks he’d just learned, looking very much like he was having a seizure. I sat back and grinned as he danced around me, beginning to practice side dodges and back skips. He wasn’t perfect; he’d knock himself off-balance, trip over a stone or log, fall over his own feet, or just stumble over nothing. But he seemed _much_ more interested in simple defense moves than offensive tactics, which was very encouraging!

 

We did this for quite a while. I would add in advice, like “always cover your neck” or “square your feet” when I saw fit. The one thing I focused on the most was the avoidance; when and where to leap away. There was no use in jumping out of harm’s way, only to fall flat on your face. I even charged at Hiccup a few times, spinning around him and snapping, making the two of us perform a strange, circular duo that had us treading in one spot for awhile.

 

After running away from imaginary bites, I moved to ‘attacking’ Hiccup by clawing, swinging, slicing, and anything else that I could imagine. Hiccup depended heavily on the ‘glancing blow’ tactic I used my wings for, using mostly his forearm to bat away the attack and send it upwards.

 

When we got to avoiding human weapons, the change in my friend was immediate; he stopped and glared at me. I continued on with the lesson until he cooperated, showing him how to push away a human’s sword by batting their elbow, stop an axe swing with a push to the chest, how to tell where a thrown weapon will go and how fast it will move, and many more.

 

When I finally felt comfortable with Hiccup’s blocking and evading skills a couple hours later, I decided to move on.

 

Hiccup halted when I said this. “Why?” He tone was quizzical. “I totally got the hang of it!” He panted heavily, wings drooping to the ground and legs shaking slightly. I worried for a second and then brushed it off as the aftereffects of his workout. He couldn’t have been drained _that_ fast…right?

 

“Exactly.” I rolled my eyes, showing no signs of my discomfort. “We haven’t even gotten to your tail yet,” I said in amusement when all he did was stare at me like I’d sprouted fur.

 

Regarding me with an apprehensive look, Hiccup flatly said, “All you do is swat away blows, like with the wings, right? Only harder.”

 

I stopped. Aw, damn. He made it sound so much simpler than it was in my head. At my silence, he sniffed loudly and smirked, making me cringe inwards and flick my tail back and forth in embarrassment.

 

Well, that was the end of Lesson Four then. We’d done getting yourself out of being pinned, what not to do (wings edition), never get distracted (which wasn’t really considered a lesson and more of a tip), and how to block with your legs and tail. Hiccup had already figured out the dodging bit and greatly enjoyed performing them—at one point, he seemed to get distracted and started bolting back and forth, singing in a high-pitched voice, “I’m a pretty pony! I’m a pretty pony!”. Afterwards he told me that I looked a little too serious and he wanted to make me laugh. The former Viking especially liked twirling around trees and boulders with ease and bouncing off of them.

 

Lesson Five would be all about fighting aggressively. Lesson Six would cover stealth and staying light on your feet. Lesson Seven would mash it all together and test Hiccup’s abilities, adding on anything else I’d forgotten to tell him. Overall, we had a lot of work to do. Which meant lots of complaining! Huzzah!

 

I dove into Lesson Five headfirst. I knew it would be the hardest lesson of all of them—Hiccup _hated_ confrontation—and would take the longest. So, instead of rushing him like I would any other hatchling, I started off with an explanation of how one should attack.

 

“…biting and clawing works very well, especially with fully extended teeth. Oftentimes, I’ll fold my wings and smack enemies with the wrist and outer edge of it. It’s a very uncommon move for a dragon to make and will _definitely_ catch someone off-guard.” I constantly reminded myself to not use the word ‘human’. It was very hard; my speech had lasted a long time, since I’d just started off explaining complex battle moves that flew right over my student’s head. Eventually I decided to stick with basic attacks that I knew Hiccup would understand and remember. “If there’s something behind you, you’d better kick at it—like I said awhile ago, the hind legs are the strongest part of your body. Oh, and your tail can strike like a whip if you try hard enough. And don’t forget the common headbutt.” I paused, wondering if I’d missed anything. To be honest, I’d forgotten what exactly I’d said and what I hadn’t. What was I trying to get across, again…?

 

“Wow. That took forever.” Hiccup made a show of checking the sun’s position in the sky—afternoon. I stuck my tongue out at him. “So, you’re just explaining it, then? I don’t actually have to do it?” The lazy Shadow-Blender brightened up considerably, hope evident in his straightened ears, widened eyes, and upright back.

 

I smirked. “Mmmmm-nope. _Now_ we start. And don’t expect me to treat you like some fragile egg!” Though I probably would anyways. Hiccup was very, ahem, _delicate._ Or he acted like it, at least.

 

The overdramatic lump dropped to the ground. “ _Why?_ ” He wailed, curling up into a ball and covering his eyes and nose with his paws. “You just explained it all perfectly well! I don’t need a _demonstration!_ ”

 

I sighed. This lesson was going to take _forever._

 

* * *

 

“Ow! Ow! Ow! I give, I give!”

 

“You are _such_ a wimp.”

 

Hiccup squirmed out from under my front paws and glared at me. “Well, _excuse me_ for not wanting my ribs cracked! That actually hurt, Toothless!”

 

I raised a brow. “Yeah, for a second. You seem fine now.” A huge smile spread across my face when the Shadow-Blender spluttered, attempting to come up with something clever. He didn’t seem to be able to do it, the poor thing.

 

Hiccup sat down, gasping for air. “Anyways,” he sucked in a deep breath to try to stop panting, “I think that we should rest for the day and continue tomorrow.”

 

I blinked and checked the sun’s position. It was dusk, painting everything in hues of rosy-red and purple, with only a little bit of yellow highlighting the tallest trees and cliffs. The entire cove was blanketed in blue shadows, and one could even see a few stars regaining visibility directly above.

 

Just as I had suspected, Hiccup hadn’t been all that great at fighting. I can’t believe I’m admitting it, since he was a Viking and is now a dragon, but he’s a pacifist! He was too uncomfortable with the simple _concept_ of attacking something. It had taken nearly a half hour to convince him to even strike me, and when he did, it was as if he were playing with a baby bunny. While amusing at first, it left me more concerned.

 

 I’d spent several hours on different strikes and how-to’s, forcing him to repeat them on me, but it wasn’t real. After awhile, I’d just given up and moved to Lesson Six. To my surprise, Hiccup had been _very_ good at sneaking around despite his clumsiness. So he had some hope.

 

Once Lesson Seven rolled around, though…

 

I took in my cove-mate’s exhausted posture. His eyes were dull and gray and he could barely stand. The way he heaved for each breath brought my attention to his chest, and, to my horror, I could see a faint outline of his ribs. Any doubts that I was imagining Hiccup’s malnutrition vanished. It was real. And here I was sapping away his strength with drills that he didn’t want to learn in the first place.

 

“You’re right,” I said, looking away guiltily. I forced myself to put on a cheerful expression and walked over to him. “Let’s go.”

 

Hiccup gave me a concerned look as I passed him, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stumbled over to my side and tried to match my pace. He was concentrating more on the ground in front of him than anything else. I grimaced.

 

When we got to the tree that we usually slept under, I remained standing while my friend carefully lit a patch of coals on fire. He tipped his head to the side at me, half-lidded eyes reflecting the sky above him. “Is something wrong?”

 

“Hiccup.” I sighed and sat down. “I think you should get another fish basket tomorrow.”

 

His jaw dropped, outrage crossing his eyes for a split second before being replaced by disbelief. “ _What?!_ Why? I promised Astrid—“

 

I interrupted him in sudden anger, “ _Look_ at yourself, Hiccup.” He did just that, very confused. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying my best to quell the rage that had come out of nowhere. When I finally opened them, the oblivious fool was still giving me an expression that screamed ‘huh?’

 

“You barely had any energy today. And what little you had, it left you very quickly. At one point during Lesson Six, you looked like you couldn’t move!” I widened my eyes at this to make a point and spread my wings out. “It’s because you’re hungry! But with each day, you get tired faster and faster, and I can’t get out on my own.” Gritting my teeth in frustration, I pleaded, “Please, Hiccup. You’re starving yourself, and your _human_ friends seem to have forgotten about you.” Realizing that this may sound harsh, I added, “or are overestimating you.”

 

The tree trunk-colored dragon fiddled with a piece of coal, suddenly looking a lot older and weaker than he really was. “I’m not stealing,” he deadpanned. “Not a basket of food or some chunk of meat, at least…” His eyes wandered around our home and settled on the lake.

 

Hiccup leaped to his feet, causing me to start and making my heart pound in my ears.

 

“That’s it!” He cried, grinning from ear to ear and tail swishing. “I know what to do!”

 

I blinked several times, relaxing from my surprised stance that I’d automatically assumed. “What?” I scrutinized him. Hiccup was dead-tired merely seconds ago; I couldn’t help but be wary.

 

He turned to me and exclaimed, “I’ll just borrow a fishing _net!_ ”

 

I raised a brow. A fishing net? What was that? And did he really expect some Viking to say, “Oh, you need this? Give it back to me by sundown.”?

 

Hiccup blabbered on, oblivious to my confusion, “See, if I take a fishing net, then you and I can use it together and get a bunch of fish out of the lake. That’ll hold us over until Astrid and the others come back. We could hold it in a corner of the lake and use fire to scare the fish into it, and then we’d just pull it up to get them all! And once we got them all out I’d just take it back before anyone noticed! It wouldn’t take too long! This is perfect! _Yes!_ ”

 

“…Huh?” So this ‘net’ was put in…corners? What? The lake is round!

 

The inspired Shadow-Blender finally acknowledged me. I expected an explanation, but he only deepened my confusion by butting his forehead with mine. He stood there grinning for a second, and then thudded back onto his coal bed, exhaustion overcoming his...erm…happiness-high? “I know how to get us food without causing a huge upset with the Vikings. If you hadn’t started this conversation, I would’ve never thought of it!” He purred. I stared with a blank face, not quite understanding what just happened. With a roll of his eyes, Hiccup explained, “A net is a bunch of ropes woven together that you put in the water and trap fish with. I’ll show you how to use it when I get it tomorrow.”

 

Well, if it gets us food…“Um…okay. Whatever you say…” I shook my head and stepped over the small dragon, letting my left wing spread on his back and resting my chin on my front paws. He scooted over to allow me room on the coal bed and we struggled, trying to fit two dragons on a Hiccup-sized object.

 

It was awkward.

 

“Just lay down, Hiccup.”

 

“No! I can’t sleep with my right side warm and my left side cold. Scoot over!”

 

“I’m hanging off the edge! You’re taking all the coals up!” In response, he pushed me over. I yelped and flipped off the coal bed.

 

“No I’m not! You’re the bigger one out of us!”             

 

I narrowed my eyes and forced my way back onto the warmth of the embers. “Oh, so you’re calling me fat now? Thanks.”

 

“Of course not! You know what—here. I’m going to be mature. See? Look! I’m adding on to it, your majesty. Since obviously I have to do all the work.” _Fwiiish. Hisssss…_

 

“…well you don’t have to be a smartass about it.”

 

Hiccup playfully pushed my head aside, curling up on the newly-heated patch of coals. He mumbled something about it being my fault that I was so fat and closed his eyes. It took less than a minute for his crashing body to relax into unconsciousness.

 

_He’s so tired_ , I thought. _I hope his ‘fishing net’ thing works._

 

A mighty rumble brought my attention to the sky. The warning did no good; it began to rain before I could even stand up. From the looks of it, thank the gods, it would probably just be a storm and nothing serious like last night.

 

I pushed myself over to Hiccup and spread my wing over him again. He shivered slightly and leaned into me, breathing deeply and evenly. He didn’t even twitch when more thunder boomed overhead. I pushed my head under my wing and on top of Hiccup’s neck.

 

I didn’t even realize how tired I was until I fell asleep.

 

* * *

Something nudged my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut. I hadn’t slept well in _days!_ Whoever was bothering me would wait.

 

The poking persisted. _I’ve slept through worse_ , I told myself. _Just think of…sleeping…_

 

“Toothless? Are you okay? Oh, and by the way, you’re being a total hypocrite right now. Just thought you should know for future reference.”

 

_That_ sarcastic comment woke me up.

 

I snapped my eyes open and raised my head, slapping the ground with my paws and looking back and forth. “What?! Huh? How long was I…” I trailed off when I got a good, long look at my surroundings. Hiccup was sitting smugly in front of me. Oh, and the cove was abnormally bright. It took me a few seconds to realize that it _wasn’t morning anymore._

 

Leaping to my feet, I cried, “You let me sleep in?!” I sprinted out from under the tree and turned around. There were birds twirling midair, the normally-still lake was rolling furiously, and the trees and grass swayed with a pleasant breeze. Even though He was blocked out by the branches and leaves of my lookout tree, I could still see the Dragon of the Sun was at the highest point in the sky. Worst of all, _everything_ was wet. And I mean _everything_ ; you name it, and it’s soaked. I wouldn’t be getting out of here anytime soon.

 

Hiccup trotted up to me. “Good morning to you, too!” He rolled his eyes and nudged me with his wing. “Seriously, though, don’t get _too_ upset. You’re _always_ waking up before me. I figured you’d get tired after awhile.” Yeah, and I bet he sure enjoyed sleeping in as well.

 

Shrugging at my deadpan expression, Hiccup turned and walked over to the lake, wings folded neatly and ears slanted. “It’s funny how it’s moving like that,” he commented.

 

“Must be the wind,” I said, sniffing the air. My side-frills twitched rapidly against magnetic currents coming off of…something. Must be the storm that passed over us earlier. How odd; I would have woken up if it was that wicked.

 

Nodding, Hiccup turned back to me just as a _huge_ torrent ravenously thrashed inside our entire home. We braced ourselves as the foliage around us creaked and moaned. Branches and leaves began flying everywhere. Some water from the lake sprayed out and dropped back in, leaving behind several ripples that made it look like there were tiny islands in it.

 

When it was over, the two of us looked at each other in surprise. The link burst to life, sending an agreed, _Well, that was unexpected— and creepy…_

 

An explosion went off!

 

I managed to turn just in time to see the source of the noise: a huge tree branch had snapped clean off of its trunk. It spiraled through the air before smashing dead-center in the lake, sending a geyser of water several feet high. A small cliff coming off of one of the surrounding walls gave in, crumbled, and plummeted to the ground, where the stones crashed and shattered. I scrambled over to Hiccup, who had frozen and was staring in the lake at our reflections, warped beyond recognition.

 

As quick as it came, the spell ended. The chirping of birds resumed and the trees and grass continued to dance in slow-motion. The only thing that was different was the lake, which was still recoiling from the shock of the tree branch and blotting out anything mirrored in it.

 

I frowned. I wasn’t superstitious, but this was getting ridiculous. “Hiccup? Are you sure about your fish net thing? I don’t think it’s—“

 

“No!” He shook his head wildly, green eyes lighting with an energy that seemed to have left him days ago. “The stones fell because they were unstable from all the rain and hail. And that tree branch was just really old—they’re not omens. I’ll fly over the forest, okay? The only thing that’s wrong here is that you’re worrying even _more_ than usual.” He grinned at this. I was unfazed.

 

Hiccup’s smile fell and his eyebrows lowered. “Hey, Toothless, I was only joking.”

 

“I know. But I don’t—“ I stopped when he bumped his head against mine, holding it there.

 

His eyes stared into mine, bringing forth the connection between us again. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

 

 All I could do was nod and look away, hoping that the bond didn’t carry over any of my fears. All I’d gotten from Hiccup was his excitement to be able to help the both of us. After a moment, I looked up and smiled. “Be _very_ careful. I don’t want to have to climb out of here because you get stuck under a tree branch or something. Worst rescue _ever!_ ” I attempted to lighten our moods.

Another gust of wind, not as big as the previous two (but still of considerable strength) swept through, blowing my ears, tail, wings, and side-frills sideways. Ugh, it was going to be one of _those_ days. The same happened to Hiccup, who squeezed his eyes shut and shivered. I hooted in laughter when he took in a deep breath and sneezed several times.

 

“Ugh! Ew!” The apparently-allergic Shadow-Blender shook his head. He laughed when I continued to make fun of him, sitting down and pointing at him with a paw. “Haha, very funny,” he smiled, “but I should probably get going.”

 

I calmed down immediately. Glancing at the sky for any signs of another storm and sniffing the air—it only smelled like rain—I gave a resigned sigh. “Don’t wait like last time.” I began to look away—and stopped.

 

Two wolves were standing on the edge of the cove nearest to the human nest. Both of them were deep, rusty-red in fur color; one I’d never seen on _any_ non-dragon animal but humans before. A chill went down my spine when I took in their eyes—deep, deep brown, so deep that they appeared to have black holes inside their heads. They stood empathetically, tails limp and feet spaced close.

 

I stood up, staring at them. Neither moved. Not even in the wind. More unnerving was that when the wind happened to swoop towards us, it brought no scent of wolves with it. That was—that was _unnatural_ , that shouldn’t happen—!

 

“Hiccup,” I turned towards him to make sure he saw the same thing. His brows were furrowed, puzzlement clear on his face. He glanced at me for a brief second to confirm that I wasn’t hallucinating out of worry.

 

When I looked back, the wolves were gone. I still couldn’t smell them.

 

I gave Hiccup a pointed look. “You still sure about this?”

 

Even though it was a rhetorical question, he answered me anyways. “Yes! I am! Or would you rather us wait here and have me get ‘weaker day by day’?” He, once again, attempted to imitate me, his voice cracking slightly when he did.

 

Aw, _shit!_ The little runt learned the **‘** use one’s own words against them **’** tactic from me. I grappled for an excuse for him not to go.

 

“Well—“

 

Hiccup’s expression hardened. “I’m going.”

 

At my defeated, anxious silence, he gave me a comforting smile. “They’re probably just passing by to see why we’re still here, or something,” he said, leaning down and spreading his wings and tailfins out. “I’m gonna get going before the weather gets any worse. I’ll see you in a bit!” With that, he flapped his wings and pushed off the ground, springing into the air a little slower than usual. “And I’ll be fine!”

 

“Be _careful!_ ” I reminded him for the umpteenth time. Hiccup circled once, shouted another reassurance, and disappeared behind the cliff wall and the trees. I perked my ears, listening to his wingbeats, worrying that he just wouldn’t have enough energy to make the trip home.

 

_I should have stopped him!_ I panicked. _He’s too weak to carry something back. He got off far too slow, and he’s going to wear himself out! I haven’t taught him how to pace his flying!_

 

I considered calling out to him, but I knew it would be pointless. I could no longer hear the pumping of his wings, which meant that he would never hear me no matter how hard I screamed. Settling on pacing, I walked briskly along the side of the cove, looking up into the sky every few seconds. I knew that Hiccup couldn’t possibly be back—he just left, for the Dragon of the Sun’s sake!—but I couldn’t help myself. I hated the feeling of utter _helplessness._

 

Calming down enough to lie down was impossible. Pacing wasted enough time but got old when I started to tread a tiny trench into the ground. So I did the next-best thing: I climbed my lookout tree and turned, watching the cliff wall that was right next to it. Hiccup had taken off quite close to my watch post; only a couple meters away, actually. From where I was situated, I was just over halfway up the wall. It didn’t help at all, but it made me felt like I was doing _something_.

 

I was so focused on listening for Hiccup that I didn’t even notice that something was entering the cove until it was too late.

 

I spun around sharply, turning to look at the source of the sounds. I could hear footsteps—several footsteps—and stones being kicked into the cove. I jumped, glided across the lake, and landed neatly on one of the rocks that had fallen earlier this morning. Sliding down so I could see just barely around it, I glared at the tiny entrance. It was several meters away from me and barely out of reach. I was situated directly to its left.

 

Voices began to drift into the cove. I relaxed slightly (I recognized them as the defenseless teenagers’) but didn’t budge. For all I knew, these hatchlings were leading in an entire raid. It hit me hard how _lucky_ it was that Hiccup had left—that meant that he was in no danger.

 

‘Astrid’ jumped down, easily absorbing the short six-foot drop in her almost dragon-like knees, gripping her double-bladed axe in her hands, and began circling around apprehensively. The female look-alike stumbled after her, yelping and sprinting to keep her balance. She turned and shrieked at the male look-alike, who had his paws on his hips and was laughing hysterically. ‘Snotlout’ shouldered past him and joined ‘Astrid’ without a word, looking very suspicious and wielding the claw-like weapon Hiccup had informed me was a sword. It reflected the sun’s light.

 

‘Fishlegs’ was last, struggling to fit himself through the crag. I tipped my head to the side in slight curiosity; he’d been able to fit through easily the last time we’d seen him. It wasn’t until he jerked his body out, tripped, and fell off the ledge did I realize that he was carrying…a basket?

 

The humans all spun in tiny circles, each of them falling silent. It was almost as if the Dragoness of the Moon Herself loomed over them. They packed together like frightened sheep, holding weapons or hovering their hands over them. The male look-alike covered his mouth with his paws and boldly called out Hiccup’s name, his voice echoing ominously.

 

I clawed my way up over the rock and narrowed my eyes at them. None of them noticed, hilariously. Well, easy fix. I rumbled deeply in my throat to gain their attention.

 

‘Fishlegs’ took notice of me first, giving a short, high-pitched scream and holding a paw over his center. The others jumped and faced me while I sat on top of the rock, puffing out my chest and staring down my nose at them. _You are not welcome here_ , I was trying to say. _This is_ my _place_.

                                                                                                                       

‘Snoutlout’ braced himself as if I were charging him this very instant.  ‘Astrid’ took a calmer approach, holding her axe towards the ground but keeping it slightly raised, coolly maintaining eye contact with me. ‘Fishlegs’, for some reason, tapped his paws together. The two look-alikes stood close together, bodies relaxed but faces tense. I knew they all wanted to ask the same question: _where was Hiccup?_

 

I sniffed the air and swiveled my ears back and forth. There was nobody else nearby. This revelation put an involuntary, relieved grin on my face. Only a temporary relief, though.

 

My eyes settled on ‘Fishlegs’. What was in that basket? Why did he have it?

 

The realization hit me at the same exact time that a blast of wind nearly slammed me off my boulder and a wild dog let out a frenzy of barks, barely audible. I heaved a deep breath, eyes widening. The happiness I’d felt earlier about Hiccup leaving washed away like a stone caught in the tide.

 

“Night Fury…where’s Hiccup?” ‘Astrid’ spoke to me. She stopped her fruitless scan of the cove and narrowed her brilliantly blue (gods, why were they that _color_? That was reserved for the sky _only!_ ) eyes at me.

 

Instead of answering, I jumped to the ground and stopped about three meters away from them. Fighting down the panic, I wracked my brain for some way to stall them—or at least keep them from figuring out that Hiccup had left to steal. Which _I_ had convinced him to do. _What have I done?_ I cried internally. They’d lose all trust in him, and it was all my fault! Even if they were disgusting, cowardly warriors, they were still very important to him!

 

“She’s talking to you! We know you understand us!” ‘Snotlout’ snapped, glaring at me and leaning forward. I turned onto him and snarled fiercely. _That_ put him in his place fast; he jerked and swayed back, doubt glimmering in his eyes for a split second. Just because he fought captives, didn’t mean that I couldn’t encroach a heart-stopping fear into him.

 

I snorted at him and then nodded towards the cliff. No use in hiding the fact that Hiccup wasn’t here; they’d already figured that part out. But I _could_ be vague about it. Very vague.

 

_Dragon of the Sun, please, help us!_ I prayed. _Dragoness of the Moon, watch over Hiccup!_ I looked uselessly around for a distraction and came up short.

 

“He left?” ‘Fishlegs’ gasped. He dropped the basket to the ground and it snapped open, dumping out some of the fish-filled contents. “But we brought food!”

 

“Well, this sucks,” the female look-alike commented dryly. “So we came here for nothing?”

 

“Looks like,” her male counterpart answered. He raised a brow at me. “You aren’t going to eat it all, right?” I bared my teeth at him. How _dare_ he assume I would do that! And what nerve, treating me like I was some old friend!

 

‘Snotlout’ scoffed. “Whatever. If Hiccup isn’t here, let’s leave.”

 

It made me uncomfortable to agree with him, but I did. _Yes, leave!_ I growled at the entire group in general, gesturing with my head towards the entryway. _Get out of here before Hiccup comes back!_

 

‘Astrid’ shook her head fiercely, crushing my hopes. “No. We’re waiting for him. I want to know what he’s doing and why.”

 

My heart plummeted. Hiccup was going to come back with that fishing net and ‘Snotlout’ and ‘Astrid’ will accuse him of breaking their deal. I just _knew_ that ‘Fishlegs’ wouldn’t be able to convince them that he wasn’t a ‘menace to their society’ again. But if I tried to force them out, they’d most likely attack! I had no problem in defending myself, but once Hiccup found out that I’d willingly hurt his so-called friends, he’d never forgive me. They couldn’t just _stay here_ , though!

 

What was I going to do?!

 

* * *

My heart hammered in my ears and my breath was hard to catch. It didn’t matter to me; the thrill of flying always cheered me up and made me feel completely at peace. I felt so _free_ when I was darting through the air, seeing everything from a new perspective. The view was stunning.

 

The only problem was that I couldn’t move as fast as I wanted to. It _really_ annoyed me how I tired out only a few minutes into my flight. But hey, that didn’t matter. I’d catch some fish with Toothless and then I would be fine. As if agreeing with my thoughts, my stomach contracted, sending a sharp jolt of pain through my body. I smiled grimly; I’d felt like this for days. Somehow, I’d managed to keep it from Toothless, thank Odin. He would have gone insane if he knew.

 

I made sure to skim over the treetops when the village came into sight. There was my house on its lonely little hill and very few buildings around it. I quickly looked away, fighting off the immediate sadness and guilt that accompanied thinking about it.

 

The road leading from my house to the village lasted a long time, only interrupted by the storage shed at the base of a _gigantic_ hill that looked more like a baby mountain than anything else. I _hated_ walking up the thing. It took so… long…

 

A memory, something insignificant from several months ago, resurfaced unexpectedly. I had been walking up that same hill—more like struggling to climb it without resorting to trodding up on all fours—while Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut were busy carrying packages to the storage shed. I’d greeted them briskly, nervously. When Astrid wasn’t around to be a good role model, those three would get very—ehem— _rough_ with me. I had brought my arm up to cover a bruise from a last encounter, knowing that they would think I was weak if a ‘friendly punch’ had left such an ugly, green-and-yellow mark.

 

_“Oh, look, it’s Hiccup the Useless,”_ Snotlout had joked. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, always the followers, had laughed while I blushed in anger and looked away. I remember stumbling and falling flat on my face under the pressure of their gazes, bringing out ‘clumsy as a Gronckle’ jokes. Ironically, one of them had laughed that I’d be better off a dragon that day. _“What’s wrong, did that small wind knock you over? Haha—woah!”_

Almost immediately after Snotlout had finished his sentence, he’d misplaced his foot and caught a more unstable spot in the dirt road. The package must have clattered to the ground and burst open, since it had been badly splintered later, but all I could remember was lunging forward to catch my cousin from falling headfirst down the hill. Somehow, I had known that he would be badly hurt if I’d let him past. So I grabbed his shoulders and caught a glimpse of his wide, frightened bluish-green eyes before my own feet collapsed. I remember sliding on my belly but holding fast, and about five terrifying seconds later, Snotlout and I had fallen about halfway down. I also remember grimacing at the scrapes that my legs and stomach had acquired, _hating_ the pain.

 

Of course, the twins were nearly suffocating with laughter. They’d _actually_ had the good grace to fall to their backs and roll on the ground. In response to this Snoutlout had scrambled back to his feet, wiping the mud off his body with a humiliated, red-faced look.

 

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get myself to my feet that day. It must have been the nerves. But, for some reason, Snotlout seemed to have actually _cared_. I vividly remembered him roughly grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet. It was no use—I couldn’t find purchase, and nearly fell over again. But he caught me. And for just a second, with him clutching my arm and keeping me from sliding down the hill, his expression softened into one of thankfulness and—dare I say—kindness.

 

Tuffnut had made a comment, and the regular ‘mean’ Snotlout had returned. Even so, he’d pushed me forward and stayed behind me, catching me when I fell for the third time and saying nothing to the twins’ whining on how he was wasting time carrying Hiccup the Useless up the stupid hill.

 

_SNAP!_

 

My paw brushed across a branch, causing it to crack and startling me out of my memories. The treetops below had either grown taller in the past minutes or I’d flown lower.

 

Well, nothing like your daily tree-slap to get your brain working, I guess.

 

_Oh, way to go, Hiccup_ , I berated myself. With a sigh, I decided, _I guess I’ll just land here then, since I’m so close_.

 

I tilted my body up, slowing down, and then arced. Gravity did the rest of the work and pulled me down into the forest. I swooped past two or three trees and opened my wings again, flapping them madly before settling on the ground with a soft _thud._ A few rabbits and a fox darted away in surprise, the latter letting loose a series of growls and yowls. The canine sized me up, reconsidering its size-to-me ratio. It turned and ran. I laughed.

 

Rolling my eyes, I began to meander through the forest, putting Toothless’ stealth training to good use. _Make yourself light on your feet_ , he’d said. _Walk on your toes, stay low, and don’t flail your tail about._ I concentrated, sneaking through the forest with my wings, ears, and side-frills pressed tight against my body. The only sounds I could hear were the birds, summer bugs, and my own soft footfalls. I could tell the wind was blowing from the trees swishing above me, but it was more or less canceled out on the forest floor by the trunks.

 

_Make sure to pause every few seconds to get a good bearing on your surroundings_ , Toothless’ voice echoed in my head. _If you see anything, don’t just turn and run, or they’ll know you’re there. Back up slowly and hide behind something. Then run._

 

Even though I was walking at a careful, slow pace, and my wings hurt from the overexertion, I made it to the forest edge surprisingly fast. My heart kicked up into double-time, but unlike earlier, it wasn’t from being tired. I swallowed heavily, looking back and forth several times. I couldn’t hear anyone. My nose told me that nobody was around, or hadn’t been for awhile.

 

Still, I made sure to stay under cover for several minutes. There was no movement from my house or the hill. I heard what sounded like thunder in the distance. The wind blew harshly.

 

I warily stepped out from my cover, crouching low to the ground and wings half-extended. My tail swished involuntarily with every other step and my ears twisted in every direction they could. I found myself spinning my head back and forth in an attempt to watch both my house and the hill at the same time. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath. _Calm down, Hiccup._

 

I briskly stalked over to the storage shed, sniffing at the doorknob. There was a key-locked bolt on it. Great.

 

I grabbed the doorknob anyways and gently pulled at it. Hey, why not give it a try, right? Just my luck—the gods _really_ do hate me sometimes—it didn’t move more than an inch. Hanging my head in defeat, I focused my attention on the lock this time. Gripping it with fully-extended teeth, I yanked my head back.

 

_Shhhhiiiiiing! CRACK!_

 

“Oh, come on!” I cringed when the lock, doorknob, and an impressive portion of the wood from the door ripped clean off and skidded along the ground next to me. “Not again!” I had only meant to rip the doorknob out!

 

The door swung open and creaked, slamming against the wall and pushing itself back. I held out a paw to stop it from closing and rushed in. The sound of the wood ripping had felt louder than any amount of thunder I’d heard in the past few days. I had to _hurry!_

 

“Okay, fishing net, fishing net,” I told myself, looking back and forth. I ignored the fish baskets in the front, even though the smell of them made me swoon. There wasn’t really any rhyme or reason to where things were placed. A lot of freshly-killed food was held in the front and several weapons were stored off to the right, but that was it. My heart began to flutter. What if I couldn’t find any? “Fishing net, fishing net…”

 

Something shiny caught my eye, right in the back. It was a familiar, two-horned helmet, one horn with a tip chipped off, sitting on top of a pile of crates. It was silver, and even though it had dust on it, it still gleamed in the sunlight being let in. I stared at it for a second, looked away, and then did a double-take.

 

The fishing nets were right behind the helmet!

 

“Oh, thank the gods!” I breathed. I pressed my wings in tight and leaped over a fish basket and onto some sorry piece of furniture. Jumping down, I crept under a wooden beam that had fallen sometime in the past due to termites and then pushed myself through two giant, vacant weapon racks. Now at the very back of the shed, I began to climb the stack of crates, using them like a giant staircase.

 

The fishing nets were being held on a hook near the ceiling by a little metal circle tied into one of their corners. I hunched over onto my hind legs, reached up with my paw, and gripped one of the metal hooks in my claws. Very carefully, I plucked the net into the air, allowed it to fall over my paw, and then clumsily folded it on the crate. Stooping down and picking the net up in my mouth, I began to cheerily make my way back out of the shed.

 

I squeezed past the weapon racks and, instead of going under the beam, I just jumped over it. _Big mistaaake!_

 

“Aaaugh!” I cried out when I jumped straight through an _enormous_ spiderweb (I even felt the spider bounce off my cheek!) and landed in a heap in the entryway. A few baskets fell over when I knocked into them. I was a little busy trying to get the web out of my face to notice.

 

Groaning, I rubbed my nose, mouth, and eyes as hard as I could. My body felt like I had ants crawling all over it. Shuddering, I reached blindly for the fishing net with my paw and knelt down to pick it up in my mouth. I opened my eyes, blinking several times to clear them up, and turned to walk out of the shed. _Never again. Ugh._

 

There was a person standing in the doorway.

 

My heart stopped.

 

Dropping the fishing net, I backed up and curled in on myself, trying to make myself a smaller target. I knew my eyes were as wide as dinner plates. My body shook in complete and utter fear and I fought the instinct to just trample them over and fly as far away as fast as I could.

 

“Dad,” I croaked.

 

His shadow encased my body, not moving a single inch. He just stood there. Watching me. Dad didn’t look surprised; he looked furious. Completely and utterly enraged. He stared at me like I’d just gone in and told him that one of our rival tribes had taken over all the others and were heading for ours at this very second.

 

I swallowed. My throat felt dry all of the sudden. “Dad,” I repeated, grasping the net in one hand and leaning away from him. My mind went haywire; should I run? Should I stay? How can I escape if he’s just standing there? Would I have to blast a hole in the wall? Where would I go? How would I tell Toothless without putting him in danger? A million instances ran through my brain in a moment’s noticed, as disassembled as the shack we were standing in.

 

Dad took a deep breath. Looked at his hands. I realized that he was holding his sword—the same sword he’d attacked me with when he banished me. I began to feel dizzy and take in short, frantic breaths.

 

“So, you were the one who stole.” Dad looked up at me with narrowed eyes. I shrunk under the gaze. He was staring at me in the same way he’d looked at the Monstrous Nightmare that had attacked me. There was something else, though. He was looking at me like I _betrayed_ him. Guilt shoved me to the ground and ripped at me.

 

I nodded without thinking, looking down at the fishing net. _And here I am doing it again._

 

Dad gasped and took a small step back. I looked up him with wide, watery eyes. His mouth was open in shock and his knuckles were white. He looked as pale as fresh-fallen snow.

 

We stared at each other in silence: me in terror, and Dad in disbelief. I found myself longing for a link that wasn’t there. For Toothless.

 

It suddenly occurred to me that I needed to be doing _something_. I raised my paw and looked around for anything I could write on; I couldn’t just scratch the wood. It was too beaten up to be able to see any words I put down in it. So that meant I needed to find…there! There was an ink jar resting on a shelf over to my right. Maybe there was some left—

 

“You can understand me?”

 

I looked up at Dad and glanced back at the jar. “Yes,” I said, nodding my head rapidly and making direct eye contact. My body tensed when I did and I looked away quickly, feeling nauseous. Squeezing my eyes shut for a second, I struggled with myself; I couldn’t get a handle on my emotions!

 

Wordlessly, I pointed at the jar of ink with my free paw. _I can use that to explain everything_ , I wanted to say. My mouth felt frozen, and the words died on my lips. I could barely move. It felt like I’d been glued to the spot!

 

My father looked briefly over in the general direction of where I pointed and then back to me, uncomprehending. “Why? Why did you steal? Why are you—“ he cut off, closing his eyes and sucking in a breath. When he opened his eyes, eyes that looked so much like mine, they were full of pain. “Why are you stealing _again?_ Why can’t you just leave me _alone?_ ”

 

This hurt more than anything else. I reared my head back. “Dad…I-I…” I looked down at the net and held it up for him to see. “I wasn’t stealing any food,” I weakly explained, even though I knew he couldn’t understand me. Dropping it, I pointed at the jar of ink again. “I can _explain—_ “

 

Dad’s eyes hardened and he glared at me with more wrath than I’d ever seen before. “Get out.”

 

I stopped, my leg slowly lowering back to the ground. “What?” I whispered, feeling my ears stick up. I must’ve misheard him. I _had_ to have. I _had to._

 

His eyes became narrow and his face turned bright red. “ _Get out!_ ” He screamed, raising his sword. I spooked, my claws tangling up in the fishing net and letting out a wordless cry. “Get out _right now!_ ”

 

My legs stayed put after their short spasm. I was frozen to the spot like a deer when it sees a hunter. Not even my tail or wings moved. All I could do was stare in horror, feeling like I was reliving the entire first night again.

 

Slowly, I shook my head, feeling my pain—both emotional and physical—build up and well me over. “No,” I chocked. “I’m _not_ just a dragon!” I turned and sprinted over to the ink jar as fast as I could, turning around and knocking it over with my tail. I didn’t know what was scarier; the fact that Dad just _walked_ over to me, taking his time and knowing I wouldn’t fight back, or how his face had become stony and unresponsive. I _needed_ to convince him!

 

The fishing net was still clinging to my left claws. I shook it out and slung it over my shoulder, finally able to focus on the ink jar. My eyes lit with hope; ink was spilling out of it!

 

Trying my best to ignore my father’s advance, I dipped my claw into the ink and began to scratch the word ‘ _Dad’_ onto the floor, upside-down so he could read it. It stood stark against the bright, white light filtering in from the door. The door that I’d broken. I curled in even further, nearly lying on the ground.

 

Dad stopped abruptly. His eyes widened. I leaned low to the ground, shaking from nose to tailtip. That sword was so _close!_

 

_I’m so dead_ , I snarked to myself. _What a great way for me to die. Killed by my own father because he can’t understand me._

“No…no, you’re not…” Dad shook his head fiercely. “Stop it!” He shrieked, jerking towards me and raising his sword high above me. My eyes widened impossibly further. No. _No!_ “Stop acting like him! Stop pretending to be someone you’re _not!_ ”

 

What happened next played out in slow-motion.

 

I dipped my claw in ink and began to frantically write. Dad kicked my palm away, causing me to yelp, and grabbed my scruff. He brought a well-aimed punch right to my cheek and flung me aside, causing me to topple into an old bookshelf. It collapsed on top of me, crushing me to the floor!

 

Groaning, I clawed my way out from under it. The net was still attached to my shoulder. Dad was standing where he’d just been, fists clenched (one around his _sword_ ) and panting heavily. My shoulders and wings were screaming in pain from having such a heavy piece of furniture fall on top of them!

 

I stopped short and realized, with horror, that I was _growling_ and baring my teeth at him.

 

_Oh, gods, no! Not again!_

 

“Listen, you…you _devil_ ,” Dad spat. “You’re not my son. Take the damn net and _leave_. If you _ever_ come back—no, if I even _hear_ that you’re alive on _my island_ , I will! _Kill you!_ ” He screamed. “Do you hear me?!” His face scrunched up in what looked like pain and he took in a deep breath. His face was red all over. “Do you hear me?! GET! _OUT!_ ”

 

It felt like that speech sent my entire world crashing down. It was like I wasn’t in my body, as if I were just floating outside it, watching everything but helpless to do anything. Dad raised his sword and rushed at me, screaming a battle cry, no trace of the father I loved in him.

 

Heaving, I turned and sprinted out of the shed. My tail hit something that had fallen to the floor and it went shooting off, out the door, out of sight.

 

The sword swooped just over my right wing and hit my thigh, thin and shallow, but still piercing. I screamed. The act of him actually _hurting_ me was worse than the actual pain. It was a reckless swing, even I knew, and yet it meant so much _more_. The hatred was nearly tangible in that weapon, a second voice demanding that I leave for ever and never come back.

 

_NO!_

 

A group of Vikings had just begun to form, confused and concerned. All of them gasped at seeing me, some of them saying “Night Fury!” while others rushed inside to see if Dad was okay. Even _thinking_ that word made me choke up.

 

I blundered past them all, not even caring that they probably saw me crying. My feet carried me straight for the forest. My back and wings hurt far too much to fly, the fishing net rubbed against my shoulders uncomfortably, my stomach was sending agonizing waves throughout my body, my legs were tired, and that strike _hurt—oh, gods, it hurt!_

 

I jumped over a fallen log and swerved to the right, coming to an abrupt stop when a hallowed-out tree suddenly came into view. That helmet from before, the one with the broken horn on it, was sitting directly inside the massive trunk.

 

I stood there for a moment, body shaking like an earthquake had hit it. My legs were stiff and unwilling to bend as I approached the helmet. I could easily see my reflection in the polished medal. A dragon. A _Night Fury._ The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Slitted pupils, so tiny they looked like more like cuts on my eyes. Bared teeth. Wounded.

 

My head swam, I swayed—I was on the ground, curled around the helmet, cradling it in my arms. Everything was foggy, like it was a dream—Thor, I _wished_ it was a dream—that was never-ending. I squeezed my eyes shut, hugging the helmet against my forehead, chest heaving and _Thor how I wished this was a dream!_ Why couldn’t it be a dream!

 

I could hear my Dad talking to someone in the distance.

 

Oh, gods—

 

He was never going to believe me.

 

_My father was never going to love me again._

 

The realization sent a bolt of lightning through my body. He was never going to try to understand. He was never going to acknowledge me as _me_ again. He will never see me as anything other than a monster, a beast, a devil! I screamed and sobbed and cursed and begged and wailed and writhed, anything, _anything_ for forgiveness, for understanding, for just the slightest bit of compassion! My heart felt like it was being ripped out by the very sword Dad had been wielding, mercilessly leaving me to bleed out and die.

 

And it was all because of an insignificant _fishing net!_

 

I didn’t understand! Why would he reject me?! I’d proven to him in every way that I was me! Yet he still attacked me!

 

Why? _Why?!_

Why did I everything I do turn out _wrong!_

I buried my face into the soaked, mud-stained helmet that no longer showed any reflections. I didn’t _care_ anymore! I just wanted to go _home!_ And I didn’t even know what that was anymore! I thought that once I proved myself, something could be worked out. I thought that maybe Toothless and I could come to some agreement with the others. I thought Dad would be more understanding as one of the ‘legendary’ leaders of Berk. I thought Dad loved me…

 

I whimpered. My tears had long since gone dry.

 

I wished that I had never gone into that _damn shed!_

 

“He went this way!”

 

“No, he went this way! Follow me!”

 

_…What?_

 

“I saw it run in that direction.” This was Dad’s voice.

 

He saw _it._ Not _him._

 

I was an _it_ now?

 

_Wait, what did he just say?_

 

My heart dropped to my stomach at the betrayal. No matter how small it was. _He said he would let me go!_

 

The helmet was dull and lifeless now. When I released it, it tipped over, dead. My throat felt constricted, like some invisible hand was squeezing it shut. In a panic I shakily rose to my feet, grabbed the fishing net in my mouth, and crept out from inside the tree. Looking in both directions, I couldn’t see anyone. I could hear them getting closer.

 

I needed to get out of here right now _._ If only to be away from _him._ And the storage shed. And my house, next to the hill where Snotlout was almost my friend.

 

Crawling away was ironically easy, especially with the water-filled mud swallowing my tracks. Like it wanted to erase me from Viking society as much as my father and that hunting party did.

 

Swaying dangerously, I clawed over a large tree trunk and checked my immediate surroundings for any Vikings. When I saw none, I opened my wings, clenching my teeth together from the pain. I needed to get out of here _right now!_

 

I leaped into the air. Pain shot through my wings and shoulders, causing me to falter and nearly fall out of the sky. I gasped around the fishing net and squeezed my eyes shut. Pawing uselessly at the air, I pulled in my legs and narrowed my wings and tailfins. I _had_ to back to Toothless! We had to _hide!_ If I didn’t make it, we’d die…and it would be _all my fault_ …

 

I shot over a sudden drop in the landscape, catching alarmed shouts before zipping out of earshot. Making a sharp right, I frantically circled my way around to the cove. It was northeast of the shed, dead-center in the forest, and I’d been moving north. Hopefully the drops, ravines, and island-hop would deter the posse; almost all but one of them didn’t have a bridge, the only way to cross over being a fallen tree or well-aimed jump. The island-hop was the only exception, with a rickety bridge built long ago that was the most treacherous thing to cross than anything else in Berk. Except for my father.

 

Damnit, Hiccup, don’t think about that!

Pumping my aching wings as fast as they could go—which wasn’t fast at all, really, just another thing I couldn’t do right today—I swept over a meadow, a large creek, a huge crack in the ground, and many other detours. I tried to push the whole shed incident out of my head to concentrate on just getting back, but it was too hard. It replayed cruelly inside my head, blinding me from what was right in front of me.

 

I neared the cove and felt relief for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. With one final flap of my wings, I went into ‘gliding mode’, straightening all of my muscles out and letting the wind carry my tired body into the open. I could have sworn I saw two dogs staring wistfully at me, but it must have been a trick of my devastated, awful imagination.

 

I’d never been happier to see Toothless. A small part of my mind informed me that Astrid and the others were here. There would be a time for that later. I cried out my best and only real friend’s name, dropping the net on the ground in the process, and reached out to him. He reared up on his hind legs, concern written across his face, just barely beginning a “what’s wrong?” I pummeled right into him.

 

The two of us rolled in a Night-Furian ball for a couple seconds before Toothless stopped us. He sat up on his haunches, confused and uncomfortable, and lightly pushed me off of him. Even though all I wanted was a hug, I stood back, ears pinned against my head, eyebrows lowered, body still shaking.

 

“Hiccup?” Toothless glanced over at the others for a second. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He added, fear freezing his face when I failed to respond, quietly beginning to snivel again

 

Letting out a wordless cry, I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his chest and gripping his shoulders with my claws. I _bawled_ , desperately holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping me alive! The dragon took a sharp intake of air and stilled for a second. Then he awkwardly wrapped his paws around my neck and the back of my head, spreading his wings out for balance. I could hear shouting in the distance but it didn’t quite register. I felt like I’d shut down.

 

“Just a fishing net,” I whispered.

 

“H-Hiccup,” Toothless stuttered. I looked up at him, willing—hoping—for the bond to come into life. He paused for a second, taking it all in. Toothless’ brows lowered and he hugged me tighter, leaning his head down close to mine. “Oh, _Hiccup_.”

 

I breathed heavily and forced myself to stop crying. I needed to stop—I needed to explain what was going on to him! We were in very real danger! It didn’t really matter to me if Astrid or the others saw me like this. I _needed_ help. I couldn’t deal with this all by myself!

 

A low growl ripped from Toothless’ throat. I tensed and curled in on myself. He wasn’t looking at me, but at something behind me, all of his teeth bared and ears pressed tightly against his head. I hadn’t realized it, but as we’d both returned to all fours (when did that happen?), he’d brought his right wing around me as if to protect me against anything that might harm me.

 

Looking over my shoulder, I could see that a very wary Fishlegs and Astrid had approached, the other three lagging behind. Letting Toothless release me, I wiped away my tears with my arm and felt myself choke a little. For a second, my legs shook. I collapsed, too exhausted to stand anymore. Toothless stooped low besides me, tail swishing and glaring at the two teenagers. I just looked at them. Why were they here?

 

Fishlegs looked very confused, frightened even. He crept closer despite Toothless’ snarls and Astrid’s warning. Disregarding him, I looked behind him at the others—especially Snotlout. The twins had equal looks of worry and alarm on their faces, while my cousin seemed to be very bewildered, like he wasn’t sure what to think. There was a hint of unease on his face. I couldn’t tell if it was for me or him, though.

 

Astrid cleared her throat, bringing my eyes over to her. She was kneeling next to a seated Fishlegs, one hand in her lap and the other holding her axe to the ground. “Hiccup, what happened? Can you write it out?” Her voice barely sounded concerned, mostly puzzled.

 

Squeezing my eyes shut, I grabbed my forehead, shaking my head wildly.

 

“Are you sure?” Astrid pressed. “What was that thing you dropped—Ruffnut, can you go see what he dropped?”

 

Toothless spoke—no, he _snapped_. “Yes, he’s sure! He’s _traumatized!_ ”

 

_Traumatized?_ I repeated to myself.

 

It took me several moments, but I eventually came to realize how much of a _wreck_ I was. I mean, I _knew_ that I felt miserable and was acting like it, but it never really registered. My mind had felt like it’d flickered and died off when Dad had rejected me, leaving me to act on random impulses and instincts. I hadn’t meant to cry so hard or shatter under the stress. It had just…happened, as if I had no control over it. Like the wind from earlier.

 

I didn’t want to go through this. Not again. Once was enough for a lifetime. I tried to tell this to Toothless, to have them stop asking questions, but my voice had fled.

 

While Ruffnut jogged around the lake (I’d dropped the fishing net pretty far away) and gathered the attention of the other teens, Toothless leaned in close to my ears. “Are you okay?” He whispered. “I can chase them off if you want.” Pausing, he continued, “I couldn’t get them to leave earlier, but I knew you wouldn’t want me to attack them…”

 

It took me a second to respond. Shaking my head, I whimpered, “The h-hunting party is on its way here. They’re in trouble, too.” A surge of sudden rage towards myself overcame me. _Everyone_ here was in danger. The five would be considered traitors if they were caught and could very possibly be sent to their deaths. Toothless would be killed on sight. Instead of warning them, though, I’d sat there and _wasted_ our time crying in hysterics.

 

I was allowed to be distraught. I was allowed to be traumatized, as Toothless put it. I was _not_ allowed to wallow in self-pity and risk the lives of everyone here! I had to push it aside for now, bottle it up, let it hit me later when we were safe. Although I couldn’t hold it in forever—or for long—it would only end up hurting my friends.

 

Toothless repeated the ‘hunting party’ bit in alarm, standing up straight and sniffing the air. His eyes darted to and fro. Apparently he hadn’t gotten that part from our temporary bond.

 

I narrowed my eyes in concentration and began to stand up, grunting with the effort. My body felt like it was on a rocking ship caught in the middle of a hurricane. Thank the gods Toothless understood how physically exhausted I was; he stood up as well and allowed me to lean on him. “Yes,” I shakily answered, “there’s a hunting party. Which is why we need to hide and get them out _now!_ ”

 

The Night Fury let out a low growl. He was frustrated. Even though it wasn’t directed at me, I still felt guilty and cringed, staring at my feet. This day could possibly be worse than when I’d been transformed!

 

Ruffnut finally returned, wearing an anxious look and holding the net in one arm while sprinting over to the four of us. Snotlout and Tuffnut rushed to meet up with her, eager to see what was going on as well. I braced myself for the explosion that would result from their findings

 

Sure enough, it happened.

 

“Is that—is that a _fishing net?!_ ” Astrid shrieked. I’d never heard her yell so loud in my life. Fear assaulted my heart, knowing that she wouldn’t even bother to understand why I’d gotten it. The teenager was hard-headed, stubborn, and stuck to her beliefs. I’d been on shaky ground with her before, and now I may as well have picked her up and thrown her off a cliff. Even _I_ couldn’t explain everything in time.

 

Snotlout took one glance at the stolen good and sent me a look that could freeze oceans. I hung my head, taking in short and shaky breaths. He probably would _never_ trust me again. Brilliant. In his rage, my cousin let out a long string of curses that would put Toothless’ wide vocabulary to shame. Spinning on his heel, he pointed at me and screamed, “You stole! _Again!_ After you _promised!_ ” His best friend, Tuffnut, had to hold him back from charging at me. Toothless snarled. My head spun.

 

Tuffnut, struggling to hold back the much bigger Snotlout, looked over his shoulder at the others for help. He seemed more confused than anything. After thinking about it, I’d figured out that Tuffnut really _was_ a lot more thoughtful than I’d originally given him credit for. He treated me like I was normal because of that day when he’d fallen off the cliff and I’d prepared to catch him. The problem was that he was afraid of going against Snotlout, the second-in-command of their group, so he said nothing. He didn’t do anything either, though. I was just thankful that _one_ person in the group wasn’t automatically overcome with anger at me.

 

Fishlegs and Ruffnut said nothing. All the obese Viking did was let his out-of-breath companion lean on him, staring at me with disappointment. This, more than screaming, bothered me. I couldn’t bear to look at him—the only person out of all five of them that I could _really_ call a friend—and let my weight fall on Toothless’ tense shoulder, staring at the dirt.

 

“Hiccup,” the dragon growled, “I think you better start writing before they _attack us._ ”

 

_Of course!_ I realized, eyes widening. _Why wasn’t I already doing that?! Stupid! Stupid!_

 

Lifting a claw, I tuned out Snotlout’s screaming and Tuffnut’s shouts at my cousin to quit trying to attack us, that Night Fury looked really mad and holy shit that hurt. Fretfully and faster than ever before, I scribbled down my message. It was nearly impossible; my nerves were fried, causing me to flinch at every loud sound, my heart thudded in my ears, and my leg shook from hunger and fear.

 

So pretty much, I was still a mess even after I tried to force myself to calm down. Superb, as always.

 

Eventually, I got the writing down: _We were starving. I was going to borrow it to fish in that lake and then bring it back._

 

Lifting my eyes and straightening my back, I got ready to point out the message to everyone else—and was scared out of my wits when I saw Fishlegs _right_ in front of me! I yelped and jumped back, hiding slightly behind Toothless. Fishlegs sent me a nervous, tiny smile and read over the passage, slouching a little when he’d finished.

 

Out of all five of the Vikings, he had been the only one to notice that I’d started to do something. Tuffnut was still holding a raging Snotlout back. Astrid and Ruffnut were examining the fishing net and shooting malevolent looks my way, especially Astrid. She looked humiliated and was seething, just barely keeping herself calm enough to assess the situation. I cringed and forced aside a wave of emotion. We were going to _die!_ I had to do _something_ to keep us alive!

 

“You traitor! You’re a liar and a fraud! You will _never_ be one of us or part of our family ever again! I’ll kill you! _I’ll KILL you_! I’ll rip your heart out and shred it to pieces!” Snotlout was howling. I pressed my ears and side-frills (which were vibrating from all the noise) against my head and felt my tail drop to the ground. I felt an intense, sudden urge to crawl away into a cave and hide there forever. My throat felt like there was something in it and I swallowed harshly, unable to look Snotlout in the eye and muscles tensing up. A quiet, defensive growl rose up in my throat, one that I couldn’t muffle.

 

Toothless stepped in front of me, eyes dead-set on Snotlout. He barked at him wordlessly, clearly trying to get him to shut up and pay attention. When nothing happened, his face wrinkled, he squared his feet, and he _roared_. The Night Fury bellowed for what felt like ages, the terrifying noise stopping everything in its tracks. Even the lake, which had been crashing around like the ocean, seemed to slow down as if worried it might interrupt.

 

Fishlegs let out a shriek and backed up, misinterpreting the cacophony and thinking it was aimed at him. I uselessly called out for him, even though I knew he wouldn’t understand me.

 

My friend cut himself off with a low growl, pawing at the ground. To my surprise, he lifting a paw and patted at the ground in front of the writing several times. It would be the first time he’d even attempted to communicate with them, and of course he was looking as pissed as ever while he did. Even so, it caught the attention of Astrid, the twins, and Snotlout, and they all cautiously (in the last three’s case) made their way over.

 

Astrid placed her hands on her hips and glared at me, her upper lip curling. “ _Really._ And how should we trust you? See that basket over there?” She turned and pointed to a _very_ large basket. My heart dropped to my stomach. Oh, no. “We stuck our necks out for you and got you that. But you stole anyways! I don’t care how hungry you were, I _told_ you we were coming back!”

 

“Traitor,” Snotlout hissed. Fishlegs had wrestled his sword from him in the time it took him to get over here, and now he was standing with his fist raised. “You _betrayed_ us after we gave you a chance! You deserve to die!”

 

As soon as he said this, Toothless forced the two of us to back up. I didn’t protest this time. I was feeling a little _too_ uncomfortable with Snotlout that close and that mad.

 

Shaking my head, I wrote again, _We were starving. I nearly collapsed and the Night Fury begged me to get something. He almost made his way out because he was so worried. I swear to all the gods that I was just borrowing it._

 

Unfortunately, Fishlegs read this aloud. At the ‘collapsed’ part, Toothless’ head snapped back and he sent me a horrified look—a look that didn’t go unnoticed by Astrid or Fishlegs. I averted my gaze guiltily.

 

“I didn’t want you to worry any more than usual,” I mumbled. Well, aren’t I an asshole. Lying to everyone now.

 

Toothless shook his head, eyebrows bent down. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he said just as quietly. “I would have tried harder to get out. I wouldn’t have been mad—I’m _not_ mad at you, Hiccup.” He repeated with conviction when I stared at my feet. I just nodded and gave him a grateful smile, so glad he didn’t get upset.

 

“So,” Tuffnut spoke up, brows furrowed and nose wrinkled. “You left, like, just now, pretty much?” At my nod, he fell silent. I’d given up on him continuing when he suddenly piped up, “Wait. If you were borrowing it, that meant you were planning on bringing it back, right?”

 

“Yes, stupid,” Toothless deadpanned. I suppressed an unexpected smile and nodded seriously again.

 

“That doesn’t cut it.” Astrid glared at the twin and turned to me. “No matter what angle you look at it, you still stole. We had a deal!”

 

Snotlout turned to Tuffnut, who’d moved in front of him. “See? Even Astrid agrees with me! Now lemme go!”

 

Tuffnut stood his ground, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and continued to block my cousin from attacking me. “Uh, I think you’re forgetting about the Night Fury. _Duh._ ”

 

“Looks to me like he let the Night Fury tell him what to do,” Ruffnut spoke up. I began to shake my head at her to tell her that it wasn’t Toothless’ fault, but he stopped me with a swift, unharmful jab to the foot. I jumped and hissed.

 

My eyes widened in confusion and fear of what I was suspecting. “What are you doing?!”

 

He gave me a strained smile despite his battle-ready position. “It _is_ my fault. And they’ll trust you if they think I made you do it.”

 

I was in the beginnings of a worried, angry rejection when Fishlegs spoke up, “Woah! Why did it do that?!” We both turned our attention on him, and he looked between the two of us with a calculating eye. “Hiccup,” he began slowly, “did the Night Fury _make_ you? Could you explain yourself better, please?” Hope rose up in his eyes. He _really_ didn’t want me to be a traitor. And I was going to make sure he knew I wasn’t.

 

I gave Toothless a short glare and shook my head. In the ground, I wrote: _No, he begged me. And if I hadn’t, he would have gotten out and taken the first thing in sight. I didn’t want to steal at all. And technically, I didn’t break the deal because I borrowed the net and was going to bring it back before I even ate! We were going to die!_

 

Reading it along with the others, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I’d let my anger get ahold of me and had ‘snapped’ at them in the only way I could. My only hope would be that my progressively-worsening handwriting would make it too hard to read.

 

Astrid shook her head, eyes narrowed. Snotlout let out an ‘ _ugh!_ ’ noise, threw his arms into the air, and then crossed them, giving me a harsh look. Fishlegs’ eyebrows raised high into his forehead and he frowned. Tuffnut looked wary and Ruffnut shifted.

 

I started to get nervous when nobody said anything. They all just looked at me.

                                                                                          

Astrid spoke up first. “Hiccup,” she held her forehead in her hand for a second, getting frustrated and throwing it back. “You _really_ shouldn’t have stolen or ‘borrowed’ it!” She snarled, pointing an accusing finger at me.

 

I narrowed my eyes. _We didn’t know when you were coming back._

 

“We had to wait so there wouldn’t be another commotion,” Fishlegs piped up, trying to keep the peace. “We took the food from our families, but if we did it all at once, they’d think that someone stole from them.”

 

_I understand, but waiting over a week?_ I questioned.

 

“I think it’s _too_ quick,” Astrid said. She flicked a piece of hair from her eyes. “And like I’ve said, we told you we were coming back. That was _part_ of the deal. Why didn’t you just get over being hungry?”

 

Something about this made me beyond angry. _Have you ever been over a week without food?!_ _I can barely stand right now!_ I scratched into the dirt, face wrinkled and tail whipping back and forth. Toothless coughed behind me and I looked over my shoulder at him. It suddenly clicked that we were at the same height; I’d gone into an aggressive stance without even realizing it! I straightened out immediately and backed up a pace.

 

_Now look at what’s happening!_ I thought furiously. _Gods, why can’t they just listen? The hunting party will be here soon!_ I gave a furtive glance up towards the edge of the cliff. I couldn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary, but it wouldn’t take long for the Vikings to find this place once they’d realized that I was still on the island and responsible for _both_ thefts.

 

Astrid’s angry expression didn’t falter. She gave me a scrutinizing look. The same couldn’t be said for Snotlout; he just looked even angrier. Once I relaxed, though, he lowered his fists for just a second as he processed what I’d written. Clearly, they hadn’t thought that I’d actually get _hurt_ from having too little food. I even thought I saw concern flash across my cousin’s face, but probably imagined it. He’d already made it quite clear that he _hated_ me.

                                                                                     

“But you still stole!” Snotlout protested. He glared at me. “How do you justify _that?_ ”

 

Fishlegs turned towards him. “He said he was borrowing it.”

 

Scoffing, the bigger of the two growled, “What, and you trust him? You _always_ believe him!”

 

“Yes, because he’s always had reasons! The first time, he was hungry and couldn’t do anything else. And…apparently, you thought we abandoned you?” Fishlegs looked over his shoulder, a hurt expression set on his face. I began to rush an ‘it’s not like that’ explanation, but he just shrugged it off. “Anyways, the plan seemed to be to fish and take the net back before anyone noticed, right?” At my nod, he smiled. “See? It _is_ justified.”

 

“No, it’s not—!“

 

Ruffnut casually leaned back, latching her hands together behind her neck and sticking her elbows in the air. “Whatever,” she said easily. “I get it. I’d probably do something similar if I thought I was abandoned, too.” She raised an eyebrow, and queried, “So that Night Fury _begged_ you? To get food for yourself?”

 

I smiled weakly. Toothless rolled his eyes.

 

“I _never_ beg,” he told me. I just made a noise of acknowledgement and pushed myself off of his shoulder. This wasn’t the time for jokes and games.

 

“How can you guys just _accept_ all of this?! _Astrid!_ ” Snotlout gasped. I found myself wondering the same thing. The twins and Fishlegs weren’t the most reluctant people to trust, but this was getting a little _too_ easy. Something was wrong.

 

But I just didn’t have time to ponder on it.

 

Taking a deep breath to stabilize myself, I began to scratch in the dirt a very short message. I knew the second I was done, I would feel awful again. If I was lucky, then they’d leave immediately and hide back at the village. If not, then they’d shoot questions at me again and I’d break down. Already I was having trouble controlling my emotions. I prayed to the gods that they wouldn’t stay.

 

_Dad saw me._

Astrid gasped and recoiled from the writing like it was evil. Understanding lit up on her face for the first time. “That’s why you were crying.”

 

I winced and looked away, desperately trying to block the terribly fresh memories from resurfacing. Admitting what had happened to myself—and, essentially, to everyone else—was a lot harder than I’d expected. The first person I saw was Snotlout.

 

He frowned, biting his lower lip and rubbing the back of his neck. Once he noticed I was looking at him, he crumpled his nose and narrowed his eyes. “You got what was coming.”

 

_Ouch_.

 

Why would he _say_ that? Of all of them, I thought he would understand! He’s my cousin, not an acquaintance!

 

I blinked several times in pain and shied away, using Toothless as a cover. Said dragon bared all of his teeth at Snotlout and let loose a long, steady hiss, tail whipping back and forth.

 

“Wait!” Tuffnut cried. “Is he coming after you?!” He spun in a circle, taking in his surroundings as best as he could.

 

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded once, staring at the ground. _Damn it, Hiccup, don’t cry!_ I seethed to myself. _You have to keep it together!_

 

Still, my memories swamped me. For some reason, I could only think of the time when I was twelve and Dad taught me how to fish. He’d been so proud of me when I’d caught one all by myself. Now look—I’ve gone and become such a terrible son that he’s sent a hunting party after me! I’m dead to him, he hates what’s ‘left’ of me, and there’s imminent demise marching right up to my doorstep, but all I can think of is that one day where he actually seemed to _love_ me—

 

Out of nowhere, a huge black wing draped around me and pulled me in. I looked up at Toothless, who wore a grim smile and then looked at something in front of me. Embarrassment washed over me. _Get it together! Stop it!_

 

Nudging Toothless aside, I shakily stepped away from him, ears and wings still drooping. The twins had gotten into an argument on which of the two was stupider, Fishlegs was rapidly tapping his fingers together, Snotlout had a horrified expression on his face, and Astrid was staring at me.

 

“What do we do?!” My cousin cried. “If they see us in this _forest_ , we’re through! Dead! We need to get out of here!” As he said this, his eyes met mine. I perked up a little when I didn’t get an instant, wonderful dirty look.  All Snotlout did was look away, brows low over his eyes and his mouth a thin line.

 

“What about Hiccup?” Fishlegs looked over at me with wide eyes. “You need to hide! Or get out of here, too! This isn’t safe!”

 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut abruptly stopped fighting and stared at each other. In complete unison, they swiveled their heads around to watch everyone else, each wearing identical looks of fear and stepping closer to each other. Like I used my sarcasm, they’d fought as a coping mechanism. Apparently it had failed.

 

Astrid was the only one who didn’t panic.

 

“Hiccup.” She walked forward, as cool as a cucumber, and slouched in front of me. The others stopped what they were doing and watched. I leaned down to her eye level in a vain attempt to show that I really _was_ trying. I _wanted_ her to understand like nothing else, especially since I wasn’t sure if she would tell the hunters where this place was or not.

 

Astrid glared at me and growled, “You’ve lost my trust. Consider yourself lucky we now have bigger things to worry about.” She turned, hesitated, whipped around…and chopped me right in the forehead. It didn’t hurt at all—it barely felt like a tap—but that didn’t stop me from yelping and Toothless from screaming at the top of his lungs at her and almost lunging for her throat. “ _That’s_ for breaking the deal. And we’re taking the fishing net back with us.”

 

I nodded numbly, extending a wing to hold Toothless back. The Night Fury snorted angrily, easing into a defensive position. If looks could kill, then Astrid would be nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash. I felt like I’d just pulled a blank.

 

The beautiful blonde gave me one last angry, unnerved look before spinning and jogging her way over to the cove’s entrance. The others followed her, Ruffnut once again stuck holding the net. I could smell the fear of being caught radiating off of all of them—even Astrid. I didn’t blame them; if my Dad found them, especially now, with the fishing net in their possession, then they’d be as good as dead.

 

Ruffnut paused before leaving and cheerfully called out, “Don’t die!” She grinned widely at us and then disappeared behind the stone column, leaving the two of us alone. It was meant as a light-hearted joke, probably an attempt to make me feel better (she seemed to like me as much as Tuffnut did, but you never really know when it comes to Ruffnut.), but I grimaced at what the twin had said.

 

Sitting down, I let my eyes wander over to the fish basket. I knew we needed to hide, but what if Vikings went down into the cove? We’d be sitting ducks, backed up into a corner. But Toothless couldn’t fly out, so what else could we do? Even if the smooth cave that was blown into the cliffside was very high up, it would be easy for the well-trained Vikings to figure out a way to get in if they knew that _both_ Night Furies were in there.

 

No matter how hard I wracked my mind for answers, it felt like it’d been beaten senseless. All I could do was stare blankly at what was directly in front of me, knowing I should move but being unable to. I’d never felt anything like it before.

 

Total paralyzation.

 

Toothless walked up behind me and gently nudged me in the side. “Hiccup,” he said gently, “we need to get going. I’m going to put the fish back in that basket and then we’ve got to go…somehow.”

 

I nodded. The Night Fury watched me anxiously, waiting for another reaction. I just felt too emotionally _spent_. I wanted to rest. One heartbreak was enough for one day, but Snotlout had to go and tell me I deserved Dad’s betrayal. Astrid was just icing on the demented, Hel-spawned cake.

 

Suddenly I didn’t want to be alone. I ran over to Toothless, who was nudging fish into the large basket, and sat down next to him, leaning my face into his chest. The dragon stopped and, after a moment’s consideration, placed his head on top of mine. He still felt very awkward about this whole ‘comfort’ thing.

 

“I’m sorry,” I managed, looking down at the food. “I know I’m being selfish. You’re right, we need to go. But…how?” I wrestled with my mind again, searching frantically for a way to save us.

 

“Don’t be mad at yourself,” Toothless spoke firmly. “Like you said awhile ago, it’s perfectly okay to be upset.” He finished pushing the fish into the basket and stared at it. After a moment, he gave the lid a confused, wary nudge, as if expecting it to snap like a bear trap. Very quickly, he pushed the lid over the top, and said in a satisfied tone, “There! Now let’s get going.”

 

I allowed a tiny smile to cross my face. All he’d done was put the lid over it, but he hadn’t flipped the latch. The fish would fall out the second he picked it up. “Wait,” I interrupted the Night Fury. “You forgot to do this…” I leaned down and fiddled with the metal latch, eventually falling back on my haunches and using both badly-developed hands to get the ring over the ridge. I’d never been happier to hear the _click!_ of the lock pulling into place.

 

Toothless nudged me in the side. “Showoff,” he teased, plastering on a fake, strained smile.

 

Once more, I was reminded of how _immature_ I was acting. I’d specifically told myself not to fall into a bout of self-pity, but then I’d let Snotlout go and push all of my buttons. Now Toothless was burdened with planning a nearly-impossible escape and keeping me from falling into what I just _knew_ he perceived as a depression, all at the same time. Frowning, I stood up and shook myself real hard in an attempt to refresh my thinking.

 

_I need to stop acting like this! It isn’t the end of the world!_ I thought furiously. _I’m still alive, and I have Toothless, and we have food, and Astrid is still giving me a chance if she isn’t telling anyone. Dad just reacted like any Viking…he doesn’t really know that it was me. So of course he attacked me…a lot…_ I shook my head and stood up. _No. Stop! I’ll just convince him when I can_ , I decided weakly.

 

Sometime during my internal rambling, Toothless had wandered away. He was standing a few dragon-lengths ahead of me, basket straps held firmly in his mouth, head tilted up in an attempt to find an easy way out. I trotted over to him.

 

“I can’t think of a way out!” He groaned. “You saw how badly I failed earlier yesterday. That mud is still there.”

 

“Maybe…” I trailed off, an idea lighting in my head. “Maybe we can—“

 

Voices began to drift down into the valley! Toothless and I whipped around to look in the general direction—the southern end of the cove with the collapsed wall—and exchanged a look of true terror. The Vikings had begun to make their way over! We were out of time!

 

“Quick!” I cried, leaping to my feet and extending my wings. “Get up on that tree and fly straight up towards the northern edge!” I began to run towards said cliff. Toothless did not hesitate to follow me.

 

He gave me a wide-eyed, fearful look. “Are you crazy?! That’s the _tallest_ wall in the cove! And that group is _huge—_ “

 

I halted and opened my wings and tailfins. “Just go with it! I’ve got an idea!”

 

Toothless’ ears and side-frills twitched spasmodically like mine were. There was no doubt that he was afraid for our safety, but he still nodded and began to climb the tree I’d pointed out. It was tall, not nearly the tallest, but it was very close to the cliff edge. I would have suggested the one he’d launched himself off of yesterday, but it was on the opposite end of the lake and was just too far away.

 

My companion raced up the bark in record time. Once he got to the top, I pushed myself off the ground with as much effort as I could, adrenaline-fueled wings pumping faster than they should have. I felt a strange, nearly painful heat run beneath my muscles but ignored it, brushing it off as my body trying to keep up with all the work I was pushing it forcing on it. Toothless spared one look over his shoulder and launched into the air as well.

 

I got to him at the exact moment that his missing tailfin threw him off balance and he hit the wall. Stalling midair, I wrapped my front paws around his midsection and flapped my wings furiously under the sudden weight. Gods, he was heavy! It didn’t help that he gave a start the second I’d grabbed him!

 

Had I come up with the wrong plan?! What the _Hel_ was I thinking? We were staying in the air, but in the same spot! Nothing was happening!

 

Toothless suddenly found purchase in a tree root and shot up it until it ended, launching himself at a deep crevice. His claws failed to grip it enough, and he began to fall—but I wouldn’t let him! I reached for him with teeth and claws, just barely dragging him up the wall until he could find something else that wasn’t wet and covered in mud to hold onto. The voices were getting closer.

 

While I struggled to keep the two of us stabilized in the air, Toothless cried out to just hold on, we were almost there. I gratefully obliged. He pushed his wings up as far as he could without hitting me and flung them down, far stronger than I could ever dream and sending him onto a small cliff. It began to shatter under his weight. He jumped desperately into the air for anything to help him, and I swooped down to him, holding him up once more. He managed to climb onto another root and we moved up again. And again. And again.

 

My wings and arms were screaming in pain by the time we reached the edge. Toothless flapped his wings one last time and scaled it, hauling himself over it with ease and scrambling away from the crumbling cliff. I dropped to the ground with a pained shout, struggled to get to my feet, and ran over to him. All I could do was crumple to the earth. “That…was… _too_ close,” I moaned, grimacing in pain from my muscles and stomach.

 

Toothless’ ears perked and he stared behind me with wide eyes. Dropping the basket, he anxiously breathed, “It still is! We’re visible and they’re about to come into sight! Get up!” He grabbed me by my scruff and hauled me to my feet. I hissed in pain, feeling more than a little resentful when I was ignored in favor of picking up the basket. The worried dragon looked over at me once and dashed off into the forest.

 

I chased after him, but before leaving completely, I stopped just behind of a fallen tree trunk that was a little bit taller than myself. Looking over my shoulder at my former home one last time, I saw a couple Vikings storming over to the cliffside. At their front was Dad, wielding his sword(!) and face bright red.

 

I turned and followed Toothless into the forest’s depths.

 

* * *

We ran.

 

We ran through the cool, damp forest, fear clutching our hearts, breath coming in and out harshly. I led the group and made sure to look over my shoulder every couple minutes to make sure everyone was still there. Once or twice, we had to stop to let someone catch up, but besides that we were almost constantly on the move. I was fine with it, but the others weren’t as physically trained as I was. The mud was hard to get your footing on, vines and branches wrapped around you or slapped you, you had to be a skilled jumper to move quickly. All in all, a very hard escape.

 

Back when we had first fled, we’d nearly pummeled straight into the hunting party. I’d skidded to a stop and bolted in the opposite direction as quietly as I could, cursing Hiccup for never telling us just how _big_ the group was. I’d been under the impression that it was just Chief Stoick and a few other stragglers.

 

I burst through a bush and stumbled to a halt. Ruffnut stopped at my side, panting and sweaty. Her brother, Snotlout, and Fishlegs all preferred to stay behind me. We were standing on the cliff where we’d decided to confront Hiccup. I could just barely see the village and some smoke trails from here.

 

“What now?” Tuffnut barely got out. “You can’t be thinking that we’re putting that net back. _I’m_ definitely not.”

 

I nodded in agreement. I wasn’t exactly sure why I’d taken the net. It was more out of spite than anything. I’d been _so_ angry, but as that damned Night Fury demonstrated, any harm to Hiccup wouldn’t go unpunished. Those two had grown dangerously close in the past week. It worried me. I’d never seen a dragon act so protective over _anything_ before. This added onto what I’d suspected, but hadn’t wanted to say anything about.

 

Hiccup didn’t seem to have noticed, but he acted very much like a dragon in our meeting. He pawed and stomped on the ground, went into defensive positions, and moved the weird things coming out of his face in several imitations of the Night Fury, to name a few. When he realized what he was doing, he’d stopped.

  
But the last thing I expected to see was Hiccup crying, or cowering away from Snotlout when he’d said what could be perceived as hurtful things. The thick-skulled teenager meant them as insults and nothing else; he was just too shallow to realize the depth of his words. Strangely, though, his position on Hiccup changed from day to day, and when the seven of us all met together, he usually went back into “I hate Hiccup” mode. Fishlegs had confronted Snotlout on it, but all he’d gotten was an earful of irrelevant ranting.

 

Slowly, unwillingly, I realized that I may have to consider that Hiccup really _had_ switched sides. I didn’t believe the “I borrowed it” story. At all. For all I knew, Hiccup had taken it and several other things, but only got away with the net when his father got to him. On the opposite end, though, he could be telling the truth. It all boiled down to _who_ he was now. Hiccup isn’t the same person as before. Is he more Viking or dragon now?

 

All I knew is that I would never trust his word again. He’d proven himself disloyal. A traitor.

 

My internal ramblings were cut short by Snotlout speaking up as loudly as he could. “I think we should get rid of it,” he announced. “Burn it or rip it to pieces or something.” Tuffnut wheezed out an agreement, hunched over with his palms on his knees. Fishlegs simply nodded, worse off than anyone else.

 

Ruffnut and I only looked at him. I was mad at him, and, by default, so was my best friend. Earlier this week I’d finally told Snotlout that I didn’t _like_ like him. He’d been upset, then furious (he kept on insisting that it wasn’t at me), and then proclaimed that he was going to ‘win me back’. The annoying lovebird had been flirting with me even _more_ than usual, never letting up even when I flat-out ignored him. I _knew_ he saw the hints and ignored them. It was _so_ aggravating.

 

Nothing was worse than admitting that Snotlout was actually _right._ Unfortunately, he was. Hiding the net would be pointless; we had no need for it. If we took it back, Chief Stoick would notice and interrogate every villager until he found us. So the only other option was to get rid of it. Wiping the sweat off of my brow, I said, “Okay. But let’s just throw it off the cliff.”

 

Snotlout straightened and gave me a cockeyed, dreamy grin. “Oh, yeah! You’re _so smart._ You’re _super smart!_ I mean—” Fishlegs interrupted him when he attempted to lean on him, looking a little too pale, and the dark brown-haired brute elbowed him away with a scowl. Fishlegs fell to the ground with a squeak and Ruffnut tensed besides me. I frowned, but said nothing else. It didn’t really matter to me how those two acted unless it had a significant outcome, so to speak.

 

The five of us all made our way to the cliff, Ruffnut handing me the net as we walked. Standing on the edge and staring straight down, it was like we were as high as the clouds. The rocks resting at the bottom looked like tiny, insignificant pebbles. It was a terrible distortion; I knew those rocks could easily destroy a ship if it was unfortunate enough to sail into them. Large waves crashed up onto the cliff. Sea foam reached up and soaked me. I closed my eyes to enjoy it.

 

It was strange that, not even an hour ago, Hiccup had been holding this net. I opened my eyes and looked down at it, wondering for the first time how scared and horrible he had felt. I had felt sorry for him for a split second during our meeting and then hadn’t given it any other thought. What I’d really been focusing on was the human-turned-dragon’s allegiance.

 

Holding my arms out, I studied the net one last time. There was a brown, circular scale with a point on it. It flashed red in the weakening sunlight.

 

I let go of it. Ever so slowly, it grew smaller and smaller, until it disappeared into a little white smudge that could easily be mistaken for sea foam. A strong burst of wind slammed into our sides and the net flung east. For a second, it looked like it was a demonic, clawed hand pointing towards the village, but that was just a fluke. The stolen good splashed into the water and sunk like a stone, never to be seen again. Unless a fisher got it. A fisher fishing a fishing net! I smirked at the thought. _That_ would be surprising…and slightly annoying.

 

Movement flickered in the corner of my eye. I turned around and watched the village as a small crowd emerged from the forest and were immediately surrounded by curious villagers. Even from this distance, they looked greatly disappointed. A couple of them made angry gestures. I felt my eyebrows knit together. Chief Stoick still hadn’t won over the entire village. The newcomers could have easily left the hunting party out of spite towards him.

                                   

“Looks like Hiccup and the Night Fury got away,” Ruffnut commented.

 

“Yeah,” I said distractedly, still watching the groups of people all around the center of the village.

 

Snotlout crossed his arms with a huff. “I can’t believe you all believed him,” he repeated crossly. “Especially you!” He rounded on Tuffnut, who leaned back and raised his hands in surprise.

 

“He _said_ he was borrowing it!” Tuffnut countered. “Fishlegs and Ruffnut were fine with it. Chill out.” As he said this, he waved dismissively at Snotlout, who looked like he was boiling with anger.

 

Snotlout’s palms fisted. “No! It’s like you’d rather—“

 

“Enough!” I interjected, pushing Snotlout and Tuffnut away from each other. “Both of you!” When they settled down, I ground out, “Look. Hiccup broke our deal, there’s no doubt about that. And we all seem to have different opinions,” I briefly glanced over at Fishlegs and Ruffnut and went on, “but right now is _not_ the time to talk about it. We should be down there in the village, not standing up here near the forest! Especially when the hunting party comes back and realizes that _another_ food basket is gone—it doesn’t matter that it was empty in the first place. It would be very suspicious if we were out here standing by the forest that Hiccup and the Night Fury live in.”

 

Fishlegs nodded in agreement. “She’s right. We should get going and decide what to do with Hiccup later.”

 

“ _Decide_ what to do?!” Snotlout nearly shrieked. I held my forehead in my palm, shaking my head. He’d just been about to agree with me, too! “Hiccup _stole!_ I could understand last time, sorta, but this time he just went against everything and did what he wanted because he was hungry! And you’re defending him? I can’t believe all of you!”

 

“Snotlout!” Tuffnut tried to interrupt him. His friend ignored him, turned on his heel, and began to storm away. “Where are you going?!”

 

“To the village!” Snotlout snarled. His voice cracked harshly. “Leave me alone!”

 

I frowned and exchanged a worried glance with Ruffnut. “Stop! We’re not all disagreeing with you. Snotlout—“

  
He turned around and glared at us. “Thank you, _Astrid_ ,” he said pointedly, somehow realizing before even Ruffnut what my opinion was. “I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said icily. I winced; I’d just been about to tell him _not_ to speak to anyone. Of course he wouldn’t. Snotlout knew that telling anyone else about Hiccup make us look like traitors. I held my gaze with him, suddenly wondering what he must be feeling right now, until he turned and stalked down the path to the village.

 

We waited a few minutes before following him. Nobody said anything.

 

The forest around us silenced.

 

* * *

 

So maybe I lied.

 

You know what? Who cares! I can lie if I _want_ to! And I have every right!

 

Hiccup is a traitor. I don’t see why the others haven’t seen that already. Even though she’s a total babe, Astrid is still sticking to the ‘wait until we know for sure if Hiccup is still Hiccup’ plan and it’s driving me _mad_ , even if she is finally starting to agree with me! How can they not see the truth in front of their faces?! If it ran up and smacked them upside the head, they still wouldn’t know!

 

Of course, now all of them are mad at _me_. Even Tuffnut. For some reason I can’t be by myself to think. Oh, and apparently I’m not allowed to be angry anymore.

 

Why can’t I? That’s what I want to know! My cousin betrays his entire tribe and what do my best friends _and_ one of the best Vikings _ever_ say? ‘Oh, he’s still him, though, so we can’t rat him out yet’! ‘He’s got his reasons’! ‘Wouldn’t you do the same?’!

 

I just don’t get it! What’s wrong with them?! At first, I thought the same things. I was still angry, yeah, but I knew that Hiccup had only stolen to feed himself. Then he had to go and make friends with the Night Fury—the very thing that ruined his life—and even begin to defend it! No amount of apologizing can fix _that!_ It destroyed his _life!_

 

The worst part about it, though, is the fact that Hiccup thinks that everything he’s done is justified. And so does Fishlegs, who still clings onto their little friendship they had when they were younger. Whenever Fishlegs makes his mind up on something, then Ruffnut soon makes the same decision, which leads Tuffnut to do the same thing, and it leaves Astrid and me all by ourselves. Except this time, Astrid hasn’t stuck by my side!

 

First she kisses me, then she avoids me for a couple days, and then she tells me she acted on an impulse and didn’t mean to do it. Obviously I’m not being good enough for her, so I work to make myself better! Now Astrid’s back to avoiding me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that she was mad at me. But, of course, she isn’t. Though it does seem like she’s disagreeing with me on purpose a lot…

 

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. It was a lot harder than usual, but worth it since I wasn’t scowling at thin air anymore. The few people still wandering around in the night hours had been giving me strange looks.

 

Still, I did question why Hiccup would change sides so easily! Everyone knows he’s the forgiving type; if he wasn’t, he probably would have snapped under the pressure of being the village idiot and done something permanent everyone—including me—would have horribly regretted. In the few times that we did hang out Hiccup _had_ proven to be much more than I’d ever thought he was. He listened and was thoughtful and even helped me with a few things that didn’t involve brute strength. But he couldn’t just come up to me all buddy-buddy when he acted weird _on purpose_ all of the time. I get it that he wants attention, but why can’t he work out like normal people?

 

Though…maybe I was wrong about that. Just a couple months ago, something about him had seemed _different_ , almost. I had been walking with Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and Hiccup had been going up this big hill looking really upset and nervous. He’d been holding his hand protectively over his arm, in the exact spot where I’d given him a good ‘ole Viking greeting. I remember seeing a sickening, yellowish color peeking around his frail hand and realizing that a simple punch to me could possibly mean broken bones to fragile, small Hiccup.

 

That realization had nearly made me stop in fear. To cover it up, I’d made fun of him. In response, he’d looked away, peering up at us like a wary animal would a hunter, as if expecting to be hurt. Then I’d fallen. It wasn’t Tuffnut or Ruffnut who launched to my aid, though, but Hiccup! He’d looked so worried, and even when he’d slipped in the mud and dragged us both down, he kept a surprisingly strong grip on my shoulders—the kind that my father used to do when I’d been scared and he was talking sense into me.

 

I had wanted to apologize, but I was too embarrassed. So all I did was pull him up and half-carry him up the hill, making sure “Hiccup the Useless” wouldn’t get hurt from me for the second time.

 

If I hadn’t acted so aloof and actually tried to connect with him, would he have still turned?

 

For some reason, I couldn’t wrap my mind around that. _Hiccup_ turning on us. Hiccup, the Chief’s son and my cousin. That was something else to think about. It seemed like I was the only person who understood the severity of it.

 

It was awful, thinking about him and realizing I would never see him again.

 

Normally, someone in my place would be happy. It meant that I was now next in line to be Chief when Chief Stoick stepped down. For some reason, though, I just felt…empty. Like I’d been given a party on the same day someone I’d known died. Which happened to Hiccup.

 

I missed Hiccup—the _real_ Hiccup. I want _my_ Hiccup back. The Hiccup that would make sure you wouldn’t fall a heart-dropping distance even right after you’d made fun of him and beat him up the night before. Not this warped, villainous shell of him that’s been brainwashed! It’s not _fair!_

 

For a second, a little over a week ago, I’d thought that it really was him. I couldn’t handle it and had run away like an idiot, too overwhelmed to do anything. If I had acted differently then, would things still be the same? Again, I thought, was _I_ the reason he had turned? If I hadn’t been so mean to him, would he have been less anxious to be a real Viking and actually succeeded? And never made that bola slinger?

 

I had to stop abruptly, fisting my open palm (the other was holding a weakly-flickering torch) and clenching my teeth.

 

Fiercely rubbing my eyes, I began to make my way up the familiar, muddy hill that led to the storage shed. It was a treacherous walk based on the steepness alone. Add in slippery mud, strong wind, and complete and utter darkness you’ve got yourself one heck of a job. Maybe add in some emotional distractions that make you space out.

 

When I finally reached the top, I hesitated. My body was shaking from the cold and it was hard to see anything in front of me. _Do I really want to do this?_ I wondered, glancing over my shoulder. The village was hidden in a gray-green myriad of rain, hail, and mist. Only the tallest buildings could be seen. It would be so easy to just turn around and run home, tell my parents I’d just been hanging out with Tuffnut, and lock myself in the basement to work out.

 

Scowling, I whipped around. I am _not_ a quitter!

 

I will admit that marching down the slope was not a shining moment of smartness.

 

“Ugh!” I managed to stop my tumble halfway down, covered in mud and feeling like an idiot. No Hiccup to catch me here. I slipped the rest of the way down, managing to _not_ fall again. Standing at the base, I stood still for a couple of seconds to try and get my bearings.

 

Two dogs in the forest started, yapping up a storm and snarling! I jumped, yelped and ran until I realized that the noises had abruptly stopped.

 

Grumbling to myself, I passed the storage shed, which usually had guards posted at it. They were gone, probably heading towards their houses. Most of the food being held in there had been taken out for safekeeping, cooking, or selling. The food that Astrid and the rest of us had stuffed in their basket was actually stolen from all of our families. I just hope my parents didn’t notice.

 

I made the mistake of glancing down and halted. There were footprints in the dirt—dragon footprints. The edges were runny. Unable to move, I stared at them until the breeze disturbed the water inside of them enough to spill them over. The fire on my torch nearly went out.

 

Gritting my teeth, I sloshed through them. Just more proof that Hiccup was gone.

 

I was unable to stop a groan when I got to the second, smaller hill in my path. At least it was less steep.

 

Somehow, climbing it was even worse than the previous. I was shivering uncontrollably, my teeth were chattering, and those _stupid dogs_ were starting to howl. At one point, my torch nearly went out, almost abandoning me in complete darkness! Thoroughly spooked—I mean, fed up—I ran the rest of the way down and kept up my sprint, trying my best to ignore the wolves or whatever they were. Thor, it was creepy!

 

When I saw my destination come into view, and picked up my pace double-time. The torch went out with a quiet hiss, almost as if it were sighing in grave acceptance.

 

By the time I’d made it, my lungs were burning and I could barely see straight. A huge headache was coming onto me. I couldn’t help but feel intimidated, looking up at the massive house standing judgmentally before me, heart tightening with nervousness and fear. Not that I was afraid for me! I was afraid for the others.

 

_Astrid is going to be **pissed**_ , I noticed with a grim smile. _But I’m the only one who has the guts to do this!_

 

Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I straightened my posture and took one more moment to ready myself. Then I knocked on the door three times.

 

 No answer.

 

Frowning, I waited a couple more moments, shifting uncomfortably. I couldn’t hear any shifting inside, but there was a light coming out from under the door, which meant that the fireplace was lit! _Nobody_ would leave something like that unattended, even with the safety curtain added to it. Old Viking houses were very…uh…I think the word for it is firey. They blow up real easy. This house was one of the only buildings that had survived since the first generation of our awesomely amazing people.

 

Growing impatient, I knocked hard on the door. Then again. Then again—

 

“Woah!” I gasped when the door suddenly swept open and I ended up accidentally pummeling someone with a hard punch and falling into them. I backed up immediately, my heart dropping to my stomach and blushing fiercely. “Oh-my-gods! I’m sorry!”

 

Uncle Stoick’s eyebrows raised in surprise at seeing me. I suddenly felt puny, having to crane my neck to look up at him and rubbing my hand. Did he _sleep_ in chainmail or something?! I bet he hadn’t even felt it!

 

He wordlessly gestured me to come in, which I thankfully obliged. I sauntered over to a comfy-looking chair by the fireplace and plopped into it, smiling widely at him. “Hey, Uncle!” I greeted, trying to subtly scoot the chair towards the warm fireplace. He forced the door shut and walked up to the chair, hands on his hips and a disapproving frown plastered across his face.

 

Eyebrows furrowed, Uncle Stoick said, “Snotlout, what are you _doing_ here? It’s the middle of the night!” He gave me a fierce, protective glare and I shrunk away guiltily. “Your parents must be worried sick—especially your father. You know how Spitelout is about you putting yourself in danger.”

 

I grimaced, mind flashing back to the numerous, stupid punishments I’d been given. My Dad was really a hard-ass sometimes. I _know_ what I’m doing all the time, but _noo_ , he has to go and get mad at me when I do something ‘idiotic’. I’d just gotten over my most recent grounding. Really, I am perfectly aware of how to get out of a flaming building! And it made me look so brave! Which I am!

 

My father’s brother shoved me out of my internal rant by grabbing me with his enormous hand and pulling me to my feet. I yelped in surprise, feeling like I’d been dwarfed, and dug my feet into the ground. “Woah! Where are we going?”

 

“I’m taking you back to your house,” Uncle Stoick said bluntly. “I don’t know what got into you to come here, but you’re going right back!”

_AaaaOOOOOOO!_

 

I froze in my tracks. Had those dogs _followed_ me? “Uh, are you sure about that?” I asked warily, leaning back towards the center of the room and as far away from the door as I could get. “I kind of, you know, came here for a reason and stuff. And they sound kind-of angry…”

 

For a second, he looked like he was going to tell me to toughen up and deal with the wolves anyways. He cut himself off short just as he was about to speak, giving me a worried look that made his eyes look sad. Running his free hand through his hair, Uncle Stoick let out a defeated sigh and released me. “Fine,” he said, “but make it quick.” Ignoring his stern look, I broke out into an ear-to-ear grin and ran back over to the fireplace, standing as close to it as I could.

 

“Thanks, Uncle!” I said genuinely, leaning against the stone wall next to my new favorite spot.

 

Still looking displeased, Uncle Stoick began to pace in front of me. “Snotlout, you never answered my question! Why are you here again? Is there something _that_ pressing that needs my attention right now? You were a fool to even think about traveling at this hour!” He scolded. My smile disappeared.

 

Shuffling my feet and avoiding eye contact, I let out a lame, stuttered excuse that didn’t even sound like words. Now that I was actually doing what I planned to do, I felt like I wanted to just turn around and go home!

 

It suddenly became clear to me why Astrid had wanted to keep quiet.

 

At my silence, he pressed, “Well?”

 

Grimacing, I forced myself to look up at my uncle’s eyes. “Well…um…this is a little hard to explain. Hehe,” I laughed nervously.

 

Uncle Stoick rolled his eyes. “Just spit it out. It can’t be that hard!” He put his hands on his hips again and narrowed his eyes, probably expecting a request for more dragon training hours or one of his swords. I considered just going with that. Would it be better to keep him the dark?

 

_You came here for a reason_ , I small part of me pressed, _and now you’re bailing? How…_ lame. _And you call yourself brave?!_

 

Gulping, I straightened my back and tried to keep my nervousness out of my face. “It’s…uh, really important, but I want you to know that I was completely against this the entire time!” I rushed, eyes widening and holding out my hands. “I tried to convince them from doing it but they were like _well it’s probably not what you think!_ and I was like _no it isn’t, it’s exactly what I think!_ and they were like—“

 

“Snotlout!” Uncle Stoick brought a hand to his forehead and wore an expression that made me feel very little and troublesome. “Just get to the point!”

 

I flinched at the aggravated tone. “Well, it’s not like we’re short on time…,” I muttered. Uncle’s eyes widened slightly and I rushed to continue, “ _Anyways!_  Haha, I’m good at jokes, aren’t I, Uncle?” At his unamused look, I deflated and said lamely, “Right.”

 

Alright, back to this conversation. Ugh.

 

_It’s easy,_ I encouraged myself, _just say it and you’ll be done with it._ I did.

 

“It’s about Hiccup.”

 

The change in him was faster than any lightning I’d seen in my entire life. Uncle Stoick stopped pacing and seemed to seize up in the spot he was standing in. His muscles tensed and his eyes turned blank for a split second, hurt flooding them even after he snapped himself out of his reverie. It almost looked like a cloud had been dropped over him, like some god had come along and sucked some of his life out of him. I suddenly found myself looking at an aged, more solemn person than the sleepy, irritated man who had answered the door.

 

I cursed the Night Fury.

 

The silence stretched on long enough for me to give up on a response. I was almost getting ready to make an excuse to leave when Uncle Stoick spoke to me in a scarily calm voice that I’d never heard him speak in before.

 

“Has something happened?”

 

I shook my head, which graced my pained relative with some relief. “Well…n-no, but things _have_ happened…and I know more about them. A lot more. All of us do,” I confessed, staring at the ground.

 

I could see him pushing the pieces together, breaking apart a puzzle and fitting it back together correctly. My Uncle advanced on me, a dangerous glint in his eye. “What do you mean, ‘all of us’?”

 

“Me, Astrid, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs,” I nearly whimpered. My shoes suddenly seemed very interesting. Hey, look, a string is coming out of the inside. Gotta have that fixed. A chill went down my back as Uncle Stoick came closer, looking more like an angry Monstrous Nightmare than a person.

 

“And what exactly do you know about Hiccup that I don’t?” He growled.

 

I risked a glance up at him and wished I could disappear. The uncle I’d grown up with since I was a baby was staring down at me like I was the source of every problem Berk had experienced in the past weeks. “Um…”

 

The Chief suddenly grew furious. “ _Say it_ **_now!_** ”

 

I told him everything.


	9. Chapter 9

There’s something that has always been very important to me. In the past couple days, I flung theories back and forth in my mind, but it all boiled down to this one thing. It was my final deciding factor, helping me finally make up my mind on my opinions on Hiccup.

 

Trust. It’s what I put into my friends—what _makes_ them my friends. It’s what separates the people you care about from the people you know. Berk would have never come to be if our ancestors hadn’t learned to depend on each other, and now we’ve formed into a strong, independent society. _That_ is why it is so important to me. Trust can bring the ocean to its knees if it goes far enough.

 

I had lost that trust in Hiccup.

 

When I had realized that he had stolen— _again_ —every fiber of my being had demanded for me to thrust my axe through that skinny little neck of his and deal with the consequences. But I’d put it off, too confused and bewildered by the act of _Hiccup stealing_ and by the, you know, hunting party. It wasn’t until I’d seen Chief Stoick for the first time after his unsuccessful dragon-hunt that I’d made my final decision.

 

Snotlout had been right all along.

 

The Chief had searched the cove for hours and found several signs of dragon life—but they were gone. The strange part was that the Night Fury couldn’t fly since it was missing a tailfin. I knew at least that was the truth; I’d asked Fishlegs about it, and he’d gone on and on about how dragons used their tails to keep their balance midair. Without it, the Night Fury couldn’t even fly straight up without falling, he’d said. The evil dragon would have needed outside help getting out of the cove, and the only living thing left in it after we’d fled was Hiccup.

 

If the former Viking had abandoned the Night Fury, leaving it to die by the Chief’s hands, then I would have forgiven him wholeheartedly. Instead, he’d somehow helped the demon out of the cove and run off with it before anyone could find it. Even Spitelout, our greatest tracker (despite his compulsive leadership skills), couldn’t hunt them down. There were two pairs of tracks, one a lot clumsier than the other…

 

…and then they disappeared.

 

Not only had Hiccup helped the Night Fury escape, but I’m sure that he devised a plan to throw off the others. Whatever it was, it was brilliant, because we _still_ couldn’t find them after two extra search parties had been set out early this morning before the crack of dawn. The troops sent out were equally furious as I, if not more. They should have found the two Night Furies. Especially since one was _grounded!_

 

I looked out my window, frustrated, and immediately noticed that the third group was returning. The sun was just rising, making their armor glow orange and yellow while their shadows stayed a deep purple-blue. One waved a signal towards the whole village in general, where Chief Stoick was having a meeting with his brother and Gobber.

 

No luck. I slumped down to my bed.

 

It was almost as if they’d stopped existing.

 

* * *

“So, what do you think about the nest search that was going to be sent out?” Ruffnut asked, taking a huge bite of her Icelandic cod. “Think they’ll still do it?”

 

I shrugged, taking a gulp of water from my mug. We were walking towards the village center just a few minutes after the whole hunting-party had assembled there, hoping for some good news. “I’m not sure. With this whole thing with Hiccup, it may be called off. I’m sort-of hoping it does, considering there’s two _Night Furies_ on the island.”

 

Wide blue eyes turned on me. “Huh?” Lowering her arm and slowing her pace significantly, Ruffnut asked, “What changed your mind all of the sudden? I thought you were just mad at Hiccup, not actually _agreeing_ with Snotlout.” At this, she wrinkled her nose and made a ‘eugh’ noise, like the idea was stomach-rolling.

 

“Well, look at the facts, Ruffnut!” I answered, fighting back a scowl. _Don’t get mad at her, it isn’t her fault._ “Hiccup broke the deal and stole. He says he was borrowing it, but we can’t be sure. Then he led the people going after him right to us and decided to tell us minutes before they got to his little hideout. And then he somehow helped the Night Fury out—“

 

“How do you know that?” Ruffnut interrupted me. “You weren’t there.”

 

“How else could it have gotten out?” I said, exasperated. “Hiccup even told us it couldn’t fly.” My friend was silent, and I sighed. “Look, I’m just saying that all the evidence is pointing to Hiccup switching sides. If he were a real Viking, then he wouldn’t have helped it out—or stolen in the first place when we told him that we were coming back.”

 

Ruffnut shrugged uncertainly. “He said he was starving.”

 

I flicked back a bang from my eyes and angrily gulped down some more water. “I think that was more an excuse than anything.”

 

The twin shook her head, but kept her opinions to herself. “I don’t know.” By her tone, I knew she very well did, but just didn’t want to say it in fear of a fight coming up. I was glad that she did stay quiet; I was on the verge of an angry rant, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself before I said something that would offend her.

 

“…sooo,” She began after an awkward silence where we’d both stared straight ahead, the village center seemingly miles away. “Has Snotlout cooled off on his lovey-dovey attitude yet?”

 

I grimaced. “I hope so. I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

 

Ruffnut giggled and elbowed me in the arm. “I’ll bet you he’s making some elaborate plan to impress you. What would you do if he started singing at your window like those two kids last year?” Her grin threatened to rip her face in half.

 

“Oh, _gods!_ ” I felt myself blushing from the embarrassment of even thinking of that. I have no idea what happened to those lovebirds, but they were embarrassingly affectionate. Ruffnut burst out laughing, only stopping to take a bite from her breakfast. I turned, face still burning bright pink, and punched her in the arm.

 

“I should tell him you’d like that!” Ruffnut howled. “You’d never live that down! That would be _so great!_ ”

 

“I would _kill you!_ ” I gasped. Scrambling for something to stop the horrifying scenario from playing in my head, I added, “I bet you would feel the same as me if Fishlegs went and did that to you!”

 

The blonde stopped short, her cheeks turning as red as a Nightmare’s scales. She tried to suppress a smile and failed. My jaw dropped.

 

“Wait—wait—“ I stuttered. “You _actually—_ “

 

Ruffnut shoved her half-eaten cod in my mouth and pointed at my nose, making me go slightly cross-eyed. “Don’t you tell _anyone!_ ”

 

Fishlegs and Ruffnut…that was…uh, wow. I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around that. She _never_ flirted with him—she more commanded him to do things and he’d drop everything to do it. The incident at the last Town Hall meeting came to mind.

 

_…Oh._

 

I nodded, unable to hold back a snort as I took the fish from my mouth and handed it back to Ruffnut. She flicked her hair dismissively, face still a shade of reddish-pink, and promptly changed the subject to what my favorite type of killing a dragon was: spear through the throat, decapitation, or just the good old-fashioned sword to the chest technique?

 

We casually chatted about this the rest of our trip, getting into a debate over safety versus honor. I personally like anything involving slicing a dragon’s throat, but Ruffnut said that would make a Viking an easy target for a last-second fireblast. I countered that one could easily dodge out of the way, and she said that that would give another dragon plenty of time to incinerate you; throwing daggers or shooting an arrow through the eyes was more fun, anyways, and it insured that the beast wouldn’t know where you were. I liked my method better.

 

We cut off the conversation when we came into hearing range of one of the hunting-party’s members. Gorge was standing on top of a crate to be better heard by all the villagers, since a group of about twenty to thirty people had formed. I figured that more had been there, but they’d left when they’d realize that their friends would tell them what happened. Word traveled fast in Berk.

 

“…barely any tracks. We found a few deep scorch marks on some trees, though.”

 

“What use is that for?” A man said, confused.

 

Gorge shrugged, rattling his skull necklace. “Thor knows. The trunks that did break from the blasts were moved to cover up tracks leading to them, and when we managed to get around the barricade, we could see from the footprints that Hiccup had dragged it across the ground to set there. But only his tracks strayed, which may mean that he isn’t with the other Night Fury, and that it’s _following_ Hiccup’s tracks.”

 

Several people let out worried murmurs.

 

“What if he decides to attack? What if that Night Fury is trying to align with him?”

 

A woman grabbed her child in fright. “We have to cancel the nest search!”

 

Gorge’s eyebrows rose high at this, and the arguments rose in volume.

 

What if Hiccup teamed up with the Night Fury? What if they were already off the island and we could catch up with them? Why were they still on Berk in the first place? What if a raid happened while the search parties were aimlessly wandering in the ocean? What if more dragons directly attack people? The questions boomed on and on, none of them getting an answer. Gorge tried to be heard over the uproar, but the crowd was too far gone, panicked nerves from the revelation that Hiccup and the Night Fury were still on the island going haywire.

 

I turned to Ruffnut, rolling my eyes. “This is getting nowhere. These people can never make up their minds! We need Chief Stoick here.” I added after a pause of thought. He always knew how to calm down mobs, just as he had done in the Town Hall meeting—even when there were people challenging his authority.

                                                                                             

My best friend beamed at me, a mischievous glint settled in her eyes. She clearly did not mind the way this ‘meeting’ was turning. “Think we can make them start a fight?” She patted a stranger on the arm, and when he turned to look at her, she motioned for him to bend down. He hesitated, but did as she told. Ruffnut whispered, “Hey, this guy next to me just told his friend that…” She lowered her voice so only he could hear. His brown eyes widened.

 

The man looked up at the poor scapegoat, horrified and very clearly hurt. “Phil?”

 

I covered my mouth and stifled a laugh. Ruffnut slowly began to back away and merge into the crowd, wiping her hands ‘clean’. I followed, and when we were a safe distance from the two men (who were now arguing), she nearly fell to the ground in laughter.

 

“That’s not funny! You don’t _do_ that, Ruffnut!” I scolded. It didn’t help that I was smiling as I said this. I had to admit, the look on the guy’s face was priceless.

 

She waved a hand. “So? It was _totally_ worth—“

 

“QUIET! All of you!”

 

Everyone quieted, but apparently not enough; when Gorge heard a few conversations continuing, he kicked a nearby man in the helmet and glared down at the crowd. Crickets became audible. “Now is _not_ the time to be fighting. We need to be organized and careful. Right now, all we can do is report what’s happened so far to the Chief,” he winced at this, still unwilling to accept our leader again, “so he can decide what to do. So go tell your friends all of that, not that we need to send _all_ our men out into the forest or that a raid can happen soon. Oh, and Ruffnut, we’re having a talk later.” The crowd turned to look at my flabbergasted friend. Gorge concluded, “That’s it. Go on! Get back to whatever you were doing!” As he said this, he raised his leg again, threatening to kick the people closest to him. They didn’t dare rebel and dispersed, scattering like a school of fish.

 

The crowd jolted, as if shot by lightning, as someone much shorter than all of them struggled through. Snotlout fought his way to the opening in the center, tripping over his feet and catching himself on the crate he was standing on. He scrambled upright in seconds, wiping his shirt off with as much dignity as he could muster. Gorge valiantly fought off the urge to laugh at him. I grinned widely, barely achieving the same. _Typical_ Snotlout.

 

Blushing slightly, he scanned the crowd and caught my eye. When he did, something similar to a grimace crossed his face. Ruffnut made a comment on how strange that was, but I was unable to respond; despite looking incredibly agitated, Snotlout was bee-lining towards us. With a frown, I went to meet him, Ruffnut in tow. Something was wrong. It was very unlike Snotlout to be _that_ worried.

 

“Snotlout? What happened?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

 

Even though he knew that I _hated_ stalling, this still seemed to throw the Chief’s nephew through a loop. He stuttered for a second and quickly recomposed himself. A hint of anxiety crept up inside me, but I forced myself to shake it off. _Maybe he’s just going to try to ask me out again_ , I thought hopefully. It was better than the basketful of bad news he could give me at this exact moment.

 

Snotlout shuffled, took a deep breath, and glanced briefly into my eyes before looking away. “We have to talk,” he mumbled.

 

“What do you mean?” Ruffnut butted in, leaning forward. “Just say it.”

 

The Chief’s nephew glanced around nervously. “Not here. It’s really important.”

 

My forehead wrinkled. “Is it about… _him?_ ” _Oh, Odin, please, don’t let Snotlout be that much of an idiot. Even_ he _knows the consequences._

 

He nodded. Like a bucketful of cold water to the face, I realized it wasn’t nervousness that was written all across the heir’s face. It was guilt.

 

Ruffnut switched out of her calm demeanor in an instant. She leaned forward, eyes narrowed dangerously. “You didn’t.”

 

Snotlout took a deep breath and straightened up, resolved. He gave us a pointed look. “I did.”

 

I found myself speechless. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t! He’d promised!

 

Ruffnut grabbed my shoulder, keeping me from bolting towards the rotten traitor. “We need to get out of here,” she told me harshly. I looked over at her, and for the first time, saw real, genuine fear in her eyes. “There’s a bunch of people around us. Now isn’t the time to blow up on him!” As if to prove this true, we were nearly barreled over by a group of men running past us.

 

Snotlout winced. “I’m sorry! But I _had_ to! You were going to stay quiet and Hi—and he isn’t even _him_ anymore!”

 

“No, I wasn’t,” I hissed. “I was trying to think of a way to tell the Chief without making us look like we’re siding with him _._ ” Anger boiled me over, turning my vision red. I lunged at him, paying little attention to Ruffnut when she did her best to hold me back. How could he? How could Snotlout just go tell Chief Stoick without at least giving the rest of us a warning?!

 

Barely keeping from raising my voice, I snarled, “Did you not think this through?! We’re going to be punished— _severely._ You might have just ruined the rest of our lives!” I left out the rest: that we may be banished, or worse, kicked out of dragon training and never become warriors.

 

“You were going to tell?” Snotlout asked, aghast. “But…but I thought you—you said you weren’t!“

 

“I never said anything about trusting him,” I interrupted, leaning forward in an attempt to break free of Ruffnut’s hold. “I just needed time to think all of this through!”

 

There were very few times that I’d ever seen Snotlout truly angry at me. This was one of them. “Since when do you decide on _everything_ we do? I did what you wanted to do in the first place. And we are _not_ traitors!” He growled. By a stroke of bad luck, his low tone gained the attention of a few villagers nearby. I stopped abruptly, eyes wide. Unwilling to give up, Snotlout hissed quietly, “We did what was right at first. And when we learned the _real_ truth, that _he_ wasn’t on our side anymore,” he pointed angrily at the forest as he said this, “then I went and told Uncle Stoick for all of us! I didn’t say anything bad about you guys, and you were apparently already planning on doing it, so stop getting angry at me!”

 

Once again, I found myself speechless. So was Ruffnut. So were the villagers that had formed around us. Snotlout finally took notice of our shocked expressions and glanced around, slowly realizing that he’d just said the wrong things at exactly the wrong time.

 

“Time to go,” Ruffnut squeaked. She let go of me and grabbed my arm, pulling me away. I turned to follow her out of the bewildered crowd—

 

A hand grabbed my braid and yanked me back, out of nowhwere. I yelped when I began to fall backwards, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. We were being attacked!

 

Spinning on my heel, I flung my arms out for balance and used the momentum to swing my right arm forward, hand clenched tightly. I wasn’t aiming to even break bones, but to throw whoever was _coward_ enough to attack from behind off of me. _Especially_ since Snotlout had basically just revealed a good portion of what my friends and I had been doing these past weeks, and we needed to get our act together. Fast.

 

Spitelout easily intercepted my swing, catching my fist in the palm of his hand with casual ease. I locked my eyes onto his. It was almost as if the entire world screeched to a complete stop when I didn’t see anger, but _disappointment_ written across his face.

 

I slowly relaxed my stance, looking down at my feet in shame. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ruffnut doing the same, her entire body shaking in rage.

 

Snotlout’s father let go of my hand and clamped down on my shoulder. Hard. “You two are coming with me. And you,” I assumed he was talking to Snotlout, since he turned away, “need to keep quiet! Go get your other friends _without_ making a scene, please.” The last few words were snarled out. I looked up in time to see the idiot slink away, losing himself in the crowd of confused bystanders. For a moment, I was envious; all I wanted to do was slip away unnoticed.

 

Forcing myself to stay strong, I turned my face blank and looked up to meet Spitelout’s green eyes. His expression didn’t change and he pushed my shoulder roughly, forcing me to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. Ruffnut grunted as she received the same treatment. The crowd parted, staring at our unexpected walk of shame, the gears turning in their heads. The people of Berk may be stubborn, but that certainly didn’t mean they were stupid. Someone was going to figure out very fast that we had known where Hiccup was the entire time.

 

“Go to Town Hall. And _don’t_ do anything else.” I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Spitelout turn around to address the crowd. They suddenly exploded with questions and accusations, falling in on him like a sinking ship. It didn’t take long for the strong, burly man to become engulfed under the waves.

 

The walk to Town Hall from here was short. Still…

 

Ruffnut turned to me. “Think we should run?”

 

“Where would we go?” I snapped. “With Snotlout talking like that, the whole village will know by sundown!” I kicked a barrel in hatred. The wood snapped under my boot, mead spilled everywhere, and everything from my shin down got soaked. Shaking Ruffnut’s attempt to help off, I yanked my leg out (acquiring quite a few scratches in the process) and went on, “Besides, it’s not like we have anywhere to go! We aren’t sided with Hiccup, but if we run, it’ll look like we are! They already have suspicions now! Let’s not confirm them!”

 

My friend held her palms up. “Okay!” She growled. “Don’t be angry at _me_ for what Snotlout did!”

 

I glared at her despite knowing she was right. I needed to punch something. I was _so pissed off._ If Snotlout hadn’t _freaking_ told the Chief and gone to us instead, we wouldn’t be in this situation now! Now we were going to have a punishment and be distrusted for Thor knows how long! What was Snotlout’s problem?!

 

I was so busy swimming in my fury, staring down at my boots and face flushed, that I didn’t even know that we’d reached the Town Hall. The giant building stood over us, cold and calculating, judging. I slumped when Ruffnut and I warily stepped through the deathly-silent entrance.

 

We were _so_ busted.

 

* * *

Silence.

 

 _“Because of your traitorous actions, you will be dealt with severe consequences._ ”

 

Not even the twins spoke.

 

_“I understand you were trying to help, and since you didn’t fully understand the situation, you thought you were doing the right thing.”_

 

No. No no no no _no no no no NO._

 

 _“But_ all _of you know better than that. Especially you two, Astrid and Snotlout. Which is why we’ve made this decision._ ”

 

I could almost feel my heart stop in my chest. I didn’t think it would be so…so _severe_. It was _unfair!_ It was _Hiccup_ who was the traitor, not us! We shouldn’t be the scapegoats here!

 

…even if I can’t think of a right way to justify myself…

 

I know I was in the wrong. I knew Snotlout had, in a way, done the right thing, and I’d been the one who’d acted most like a traitor. I _hated_ it.

 

_“I have the right mind to let you know that there will be a meeting and all of this will be told to the village. It’s only fair that everyone should know, if we’re to stand as a tribe against the threat these dragons now hold. Right, Chief?”_

 

Gods, this **_cannot_** _be happening!_

 

We—we—I…

 

I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t. All I could do was stare, eyes wider than ever before. The only time I’d ever felt this frightened was when I’d been chased down by the Night Fury. Except that I had escaped into the woods, slithering away like a snake, and emerged triumphant. It wasn’t so fair this time. I felt like I was a flickering flame in a whirlwind, just waiting to go out. I could barely think straight.

 

This _can’t_ be happening. I would rather die!

 

 _“With all of this said, children, I will say outright that I will not banish you. You were—_ are _naïve, and you can’t see the big picture. But I can’t stop the other villagers from harassing you if they do—and I know they will. So you’ll just have to bear through with it.”_

A hesitation was all we had. There was a moment’s pause as everyone pulled up their mental shields and fell to the ground, braced for the Night-Furian impact that was sure to blast them apart. And it dropped harder and faster than any sword, stealthier than any arrow, and blunter than any sledgehammer. It was a two-headed snake, killing itself as it selfishly landed the final blow.

 

_“You will never be warriors.”_

 

A selfish, two-headed snake.

 

_“You can not, nor will you ever, go into dragon training. You will be taught basic fighting skills in case we are raided by them or another Viking tribe, but then you will be assigned into apprenticeships.”_

 

I am a two-headed snake.                                           

 

_“I’m sorry that I have to do this. But to let you off without punishment is impossible when you knowingly coincided with a…a t-traitor and a Night Fury.”_

At first, I’d left Hiccup alive because I’d thought that he was just a person trapped in a dragon’s body. But I’d also used him; I knew he’d somehow made a deal with the Night Fury so they wouldn’t kill each other, and I was planning on killing it at just the right time. After Hiccup had shown himself a liar and thief, I’d begun to ponder on doing the same to him.

 

I’d ignored the signs that Hiccup was turning more dragon. Then, I’d hidden him from the village, hoping to get the glory, to be a renowned warrior. I’d ignored Snotlout’s obvious pain in his cousin’s betrayal. I’d ignored how much Fishlegs despised all of this and wanted nothing more to do with it; he’d known my plans long before even I had. I’d ignored Ruffnut’s illness, allowing her to come to the cove when she was still sick and making her even worse. I’d ignored Tuffnut’s fear over his sister’s safety, both in and out of the village, as I dragged her everywhere with me despite his silent (and sometimes verbal) disagreement. I’d ignored my self-centered plans and justified them as “seeing if Hiccup was still human” when I was really just looking for an opportunity to make me better.

 

Time and time again, I’d had a chance to do the right thing, to kill both Night Furies—and I’d hadn’t! I had chosen to believe the best possible outcome and had pretended that the opposite wasn’t happening.

 

In other words, I was an _idiot._ And now we were all paying the price.

 

_“On top of that, we have explained the entire problem with your parents. They’ll give you further punishment, though they have mentioned that having you row one of the smaller supply boats in the next nest hunt may do.”_

 

_“I’m sorry, kids. But it had to be done.”_

Stoick, Gobber, and Spitelout watched us, old and jaded in the dark shadows of the unlit Town Hall. My axe had long-since clattered to the floor. In the corner of my eyes, Snotlout dropped to his knees, and Ruffnut brushed his shoulder with her hand. She was grasping Tuffnut’s with the other, and he the same, as if they would fall apart if they let go.

 

My mouth moved, but no sound came out. I couldn’t process what was going on. Their faces, so angry and withered and _disappointed_ —it killed me.

 

_This is all Hiccup’s fault._

 

I wanted to believe it so badly, but I knew it wasn’t true. Well, it was, but not completely. _This is all_ my _fault._

 

“So,” Chief Stoick said, voice emotionless, “you’re going to tell us everything you know about where those two dragons might have gone. You have nothing left to lose. The longer you stall, the more time they have to get away.”

 

He was met by blank stares from the five of us.

 

“U-um,” Fishlegs spoke up timidly, his voice barely audible. “We don’t know. He didn’t tell us.”

 

Spitelout’s face screwed up in anger. “He didn’t tell you _anything?_ ”

 

“Did you see the direction they ran in?” Gobber added, holding up his hook and pointing it at us.

 

I slowly shook my head. We didn’t know. We were telling the truth, really. Hiccup told us you were coming and we ran out as fast as we could. All we know is that the Night Fury can’t fly.

 

“Nothing?” Spitelout growled. “So, you’re saying that you’ve managed to communicate with Hiccup long enough for him to tell you that his little friend can’t escape,” he began to pace, looking more like his brother with each step, “and you still don’t have _any_ idea on where they went?”

 

“N-no,” Fishlegs squeaked, holding his hands to his chest and tapping his fingers. His saucer-dish eyes moved over to us, begging for help.

 

He’s right, I wanted to say. Spitelout threw his arms up and shook his head in disbelief and Gobber slumped. The Chief stood still, watching us with narrowed eyes. Looking for liars.

 

“He was… too weak to…stand?” Snotlout grasped at loose straws. Guilt was written across his entire person. I sympathized with him; it was impossible for me to stay angry at him any longer when I’d realized what a _terrible_ person I’d been. He had wanted to tell right from the start. I’d stopped him.

 

Something lit up in our leader’s eyes. “Hiccup?” He sounded reluctant and approving at the same time, as if he wanted his son to get away but felt obligated, as our Chief of Berk, to catch him. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was exactly what Stoick wanted. He’d always wanted the real Hiccup back.

 

I found myself nodding again. Spitelout halted and stared at his son eagerly.

 

Taking the cue, Snotlout mumbled, “Well, he was shaking…and stuff. He couldn’t stand well. He was leaning on the Night Fury a lot.”

 

“So they must be hiding somewhere!” Spitelout realized. “All we have to do is surround the island they’re on and move in a straight line. We’ll find them, then!” He smiled hopefully at Gobber and the Chief. Neither looked happy at all.

 

The blacksmith sighed and rubbed one of his eyes with his palm. “I don’t know of any place on the other island where two dragons could hide,” he said reluctantly. “It could be a waste of time.”

 

Chief Stoick turned to him. “We have to try, don’t we?” The green-eyed warrior’s voice had once again regained its dull, disheartened quality.

 

Gobber nodded sullenly, his beard-braids swinging to and fro. “O’ course. I’m just sayin’.”

 

“Gobber, you must remember that Hiccup is not on our side anymore,” Spitelout reasoned gently. “I know you were attached to him, but you have to forget that.” He winced in sympathy. “It was hard for me, too, you know.”

 

The crippled man narrowed his eyes dangerously. Chief Stoick placed a hand on his shoulder, halting a biting remark. Several tense seconds passed before he spoke:

 

“Go get the rest of the village. We’ll send the hunting party out at noon.”

 

Spitelout nodded seriously, his face turning determined once more. “Aye, sir.” And he ran out of the building.

 

My heart fluttered when Chief Stoick once again returned his attention to us. “And you five…” He took a deep breath, as if he were about to begin his speech again. “You’d best go home.” I watched him as he walked past us, drifting like a ghost, and left out the door. We heard him cry out, “Ready your weapons!”, which was answered by an uproar so powerful, one would think our village had grown over half its size.

 

I slowly turned to look at my friends. Each of them was paler than any snow I’d ever seen before, frightened out of their wits. I knew I looked the same. A silent question hung in the air: _What will they do to us?_

 

The cries of the hunting party had long-since passed by the time I found my legs again and wordlessly exited the great, shadowed building. The twins followed me out. Fishlegs managed to get the still-kneeling Snotlout to stand up, but by the time I’d started to glance over my shoulder to see what they were doing, I was already around the corner and out of sight.

 

I took the long way home. Swerving through allies was easy enough when nobody was around to catch you. I actually made it there in no time, but kept going, knowing my parents were home and unable to face them. So I slunk off to my favorite training grounds in the forest, tail between my legs. It was impossibly still when I reached my destination.

 

The small clearing was barely the size of my living room, with a single tree in its center. The trunk had deep, jagged scratches littering its entire trunk. Sap that had seeped out like blood now stained the bark black, mimicking the desperate leaves above it. I grimaced.

 

 _No._ I was not blaming myself for something as insignificant as an ill tree.

 

 _WHAM!_ My fist hit the wood as hard as it could go. Pain shot up through my knuckles to my arm, but it was merely an afterthought. _BAM!_ I swung my other hand around, with the fiercest battle shriek I could muster. The tree was unbudging. I gingerly held my hands together, heaving and staring wide-eyed at the ugly purplish-blue bruises as if they had formed on their own. I dragged my gaze away from them to look back up at the trunk.

 

It was the exact same color as Hiccup’s scales.

 

 _THUNK!_ If it weren’t for _him,_ we wouldn’t be in this mess!

 

 _THWACK!_  If I hadn’t fallen for _his_ tricks and let him influence my decisions, let him make me believe all the selfish things I did were correct, then none of this would have happened, and he probably would have died off! If anything, our presence brought those damn dragons even closer than before! He chose to switch sides and still tried to persuade me that he was with us!

 

 _SNAP!_  Our lives are _ruined_. We were doomed to being simple pedestrians, non-warriors, scum! Never will we be able to fix this!

 

 _CRACK!_ Never! And all over one mistake! One little mistake that I made, and four other lives are destroyed forever!

 

And it was **all—Hiccup’s—fault!**

( _And your own as well_ , a voice reminded me.)

I screamed, spun around, and kicked the tree so hard that agony sliced up my thigh like fire, sending me careening to the ground. I rolled onto my side, heart hammering like a Gronckle’s wings, breath escaping me no matter how much air I sucked into my lungs. My pale, white skin had somehow transitioned to purple-bruised and bright, lifeblood red. My knuckles were rubbed raw, with blood gushing out of the several wounds that I’d given myself, and my fingertips had long-since turned numb from the pain and cold.

 

I curled up a little, covering my ears with hands and twitching when my blood dripped wetly onto my cheeks. Squeezing my eyes shut, I gritted my teeth as hard as I could and willed the ringing in my ears to be as loud as possible. If I paid just a little bit of attention, I could hear loud calls coming from within the forest. I ignored them.

 

A two-headed snake.

 

* * *

Hiccup’s ears shot up. His eyes snapped open, the muscles in his legs and wings tensed, and he raised his head in alarm. “What was that?” If I tried hard enough, I could barely detect fear in his voice.

 

I, too, looked in the direction. There had been a high-pitched, vaguely familiar sound. But by the time it had reached us, it had echoed off the trees so much that it had become distorted, unperceivable, and incredibly quiet; if the Shadow-Blender besides me hadn’t reacted so extremely, I wouldn’t have even noticed that the noise had been there in the first place.

 

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. A fox?” I rested my chin on my paws again, completely spent out. We had just run through several loopholes to throw off our pursuers and had decided to rest in a large tree. Hiccup had insisted that I climb up without using my claws, which was humiliating since that reduced me to scooting vertically up it. It got us to safety, though, and there were no tracks behind. It was worth it, but I still hated acting like a frightened little deer.

 

Hiccup had turned out to be a master of trickery; having me walk in one direction, go back by gliding from tree to rock to tree, and then walk again in mimicry of his footprints had worked excellently to keep the Vikings off of our tracks. All the while this was happening, he had been at work knocking down trees and waiting for me to return so I could set false barricades, confusing the idiotic humans even more. Little did they know that we were traveling strictly off the ground, only descending if we decided to stay in a cave or if there was no other option. And by the time they did find it out, then we would have led them off of our current island and knocked down the bridge. It all depended on timing; our previous home had been near the furthest edge from the pathway, and we needed to subtly make our way back around without making it obvious. If we did, then they would wait for us there, or reinforce it.

 

Thank the Dragon of the Sun that I’d managed to convince Hiccup to eat most of the fish we’d gotten from the human hatchlings. It had only been a day, and yet he was already returning to his normal self—physically. He was no longer winded after flying and could easily run around to his clumsy little heart’s content; not that he _was_ , of course. A part of me worried at his sudden revival—was it his uncontrolled magic?—but it was pushed aside. My friend was getting better, and that was all that mattered.

 

I watched him stare off into the distance, but eventually he dropped his head down again with a slight grunt. “I…guess so.” He closed his eyes and curled up as much as he could without falling. Hiccup’s breathing stayed irregular, though, signaling that he was still awake. He seemed to be having trouble sleeping; I’d watched him close his eyes and apparently try to fall asleep, but yet he never seemed to find his rest. I felt my eyebrows lower, and anger blazed throughout my body. I had no idea what to do, right when he needed me the most. Some friend I was.

 

“Do you…want to talk?” I tried, cringing at how awkwardly that had just come out.

 

Hiccup slightly opened his eyes. “What is there to say?” He asked dully. “I cried, you comforted me, I cried some more…if we have any more of these talks, you’re going to think I’m a baby.” He cracked a weak grin when I made ‘no! no!’ noises. I stopped when it faded, and he concluded, “I’m just so done with all of these talks. Especially when they’re so draining.”

 

I shifted on the multiple tree branches I was sitting on (I was right up against the base so they could hold my weight without bending) and sat up. “But you said talking was good, and that…what was it you said? Uh…” I narrowed my eyes in thought. “Something about ‘balling it up’. It’s bad. And…eh, yeah.” An embarrassed smile split across my muzzle, and I gave an uncertain laugh.

 

“Actions are louder than speaking,” Hiccup informed me, tail swaying underneath him. “I just…I just want to forget it all…”

 

Frowning, I gingerly stepped over to the branches he was occupying and lay down in front of him, taking in his disturbed expression. Reaching out, I used my claws to grasp his arm. Hiccup’s somber expression never shifted, not even once. He looked like his face had been made of stone, stuck in its place with no hope of changing except by force.

 

I hesitated, and strengthened my grip. “I did the same thing, and look at what happened.” My mind flashed briefly to the night I’d broken down. The link between the two of us sprung up as if to accentuate this, replaying the entire conversation in seconds. I quickly looked away; it would upset my friend even further.

 

Hiccup didn’t say anything, and lowered his head to stare at my paw. My heart began to beat a little faster.

 

“Hiccup,” I said, “please. You saw me that night. It looked like I was only sad, but it was so much more than that. I’d never felt so lost or confused in my entire life. I _never_ want to relive it again. And I’m not going to let you do the same thing.” Cringing, I whispered, “I’m not going to let my best friend kill himself.”

 

The second the words left my mouth, Hiccup flinched as if I’d struck him. His gaze flickered up at me once and quickly looked away. My eyes widened, and it took me a couple seconds to realize that my claws were digging into his scales and he wasn’t even reacting to it.

 

My voice came back to me in a rush. “ _Hiccup_ ,” he jumped even though I hadn’t raised my voice, “you can’t just—!”

 

“So what if I’m upset?!” He snapped, ears and side-frills pinned and teeth extracted. I reared my head back, somehow even _more_ surprised. “I’m allowed to be! And I’m allowed to not want to talk about how…how…it _happened_ , okay!” He yanked his paw out of my grip and shifted on his feet, purposely getting as far away from me as he could without actually changing position. “I already told you I don’t want to talk about it, so just—just—just _please_ , leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about it,” he repeated much more quietly in comparison to his previous yelling.

 

I stared as it slowly began to dawn on me, the extent his emotional turmoil had sent him through. _This is not normal for him. He’s acting worse about this than he used to act about being turned into a Shadow-Blender._

 

Swallowing, I inched closer to him. He glared at his front paws, which he’d pushed up against his snout. “Hiccup,” I began gently, “you know that this is unhealthy.”

 

“Sorry for not wanting to talk about it every waking second,” he growled. I narrowed my eyes, face wrinkling. A small part of my mind immediately scolded me for selfishly allowing my anger to overcome me when something was clearly off with this whole situation. With a great deal of effort, I sucked in a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. Hiccup’s gaze flashed up at me, and he mumbled very softly, “Sorry.”

 

Sighing, I settled down next to him. “It’s alright. How about…” I struggled to find something to talk about. Hiccup obviously needed some time to work things out and didn’t want me to press him further. If he needed me, I would be there. But for now, I would do as he wished—even if that meant that I had to lunge at the first idea I got for new conversation.

 

Which was not very fun, considering my lack of experience in the subject.

 

“S-so, um, want to look for that fox?” I suggested. Hiccup’s apathetic demeanor broke as he gave me a rather confused look, one eyebrow aiming for the sky. I laughed in embarrassment. “I mean, uh…how about…let’s walk around. Or something. And, um…play…hide and…seek?” My voice trailed off when Hiccup snorted in amusement. “O-or maybe we could just talk,” I stammered, covering my face with a paw, mortified. What the hell was _that?_

 

He slowly sat up, limbs shaking just a little. “What do you want to talk about?” His voice normally would have been cheery, but instead, it was half-hearted. I forced myself not to slump in defeat and confusion. If Hiccup wanted to be in a bad mood for awhile, then I wasn’t going to try to stop him; I’d just had the joy of learning that I would only end up worsening his emotions.

 

But…maybe I could try to cheer him up! And I knew just the thing that would accomplish it!

 

Smiling broadly, I straightened my back and folded my wings tightly against my back, puffing my chest out. “I’ll tell you a legend!” Hiccup’s eyes brightened considerably and his ears perked. I grinned. “Alright, so how about…Sphere.” Nodding to myself, I continued, “I think you’d like Sphere’s story.”

 

“Sphere?” Hiccup parroted, a small grin gracing his lips. I nodded exuberantly, to which he laughed and shook his head. “You guys sure do put lots of effort into naming your idols.”

 

“Yes, we do,” I deadpanned, letting my eyes fall flat. “Are you ready to hear it now?”

 

He nodded once and shifted his weight onto his lower back and hind legs, tail falling still. A part of me wanted to leap for joy; he was already getting happier, and I hadn’t even started yet! Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? I was a _genius._

 

Becoming more excited, I chirped, “Okay! You remember how I mentioned a long time ago how dragons aren’t named unless they do something incredible, right?” Hiccup’s head bobbed up and down. “Well, Sphere was one of the few dragons that gained that honor. He was the first dragon to utilize magic _outside_ his body. This type of magic is very mysterious and rare, so he is seen as the dragon who invented it. It’s called ‘mental magic’, while the magic that most dragons use is physical.”

 

I paused, waiting for the questions to come pouring out. But Hiccup just sat there, watching and interested…not interested enough, apparently. Refusing to become disheartened, I went on, “Sphere was a dragon who had powerful magic and intelligence. He could outsmart anyone. He wanted _more_ , though. So he began to work with fire.” I grinned at this.

 

“Sphere theorized that fire was a representation of a dragon’s soul and magic, and therefore there was a way to control it after it left the body. He devoted his life to working with it, trying to suppress it and bend it to his will. But he couldn’t find the answer. The flames would just move around him, intangible and uncaring of his presence.” As I retold this, I moved my paws up and down to show how the imaginary fire would move. Hiccup’s tiny smile grew a little. I refused to feel embarrassed.

 

A twig snapped somewhere to our right. Hiccup yelped, cutting me off abruptly. I turned to look in the direction, ears perked, and tasted the air. A flock of birds, looking as small as ants, became unsettled and flew away, nothing but tiny black specks in the air.  They hadn’t started in response to whatever was around us, though; they were quite a distance away. I chuckled nervously, unsure of whether to go on or not; even though the two events had nothing to do with each other, Hiccup was spooked.

 

“I-I’m fine,” he said, ducking self-consciously. “Go on.”

 

“Oh..kay.” I cleared my throat theatrically. “Where was I…oh, right. Sphere, after begging the Dragon of the Sun, the God of power, for answers, fell asleep during the beginning of twilight that evening. In his sleep, he was approached by the Dragoness of the Moon and Dragon of the Sun Themselves. They told him that They would teach him the answers, but if he were to ever abuse them, he would be killed on the spot. He agreed, and he woke up almost immediately. And after that…well, this part varies from dragon to dragon. Some say he just _knew_ , and others say that he saw a sign that showed him what to do.”

                                                                                       

I brought both my paws up and cupped them in a vague imitation of an egg. “Sphere was driven by _something_. He shot a stream of fire into the air and flew in front of it.” My tail swished, and my smile lengthened. “Instead of bending around him, the fire moved _with_ him. Sphere locked onto this and flew in circles, gripping the fire between his claws and tightening his flight. He eventually ended up with a complete replica of the sun, midair…it was said to be just as bright, but completely lacking in the comforting warmth that gives us life. Dragons of all kinds flocked to him and hailed him, naming him Sphere in honor of his discovery.”

 

“A sun?” Hiccup finally spoke up. “Just…there?”

 

I nodded, brows furrowing. “I never quite got that part, either. The sun is so high that you can’t fly to it, so I never understood how one could be made that low to the earth.”

 

He hummed, nodding. After a short pause, he said, “So what happened after that?”

 

“Sphere lived the rest of his life perfecting his technique and passing it down to his apprentices—if they were lucky enough to be able to do it in the first place. Apparently, he said that it was all in the mind, and not the body. Most dragons couldn’t even grasp the concept. They became jealous. Sphere was outcasted because of this and only his close followers followed him to the south. It was at this time that Sphere became corrupted. He would turn his fire into imitations of humans’ weapons and slice them through the chest with it. He’d set entire forests on fire if he knew his banishers, or the friends of his banishers, were living there.” Hiccup grimaced, most likely at the humans part. I decided to keep Sphere’s more gruesome deeds out—how he’d ravage villages and nests, steal the young away, and attempt to build his own army of them. Knowing nothing about parenting, the hatchlings, both human and dragon, died soon after their capture.

 

“Wait, I thought you liked him?” Hiccup interrupted me, eyes narrowing in thought.

 

I shook my head. “I like the story…and how Sphere used his magic, but not what he did. _Nobody_ should _dare_ go against the Dragon of the Sun and the Dragoness of the Moon. And this feeling was mutual between most dragons. After seasons of using his acquired powers for selfish and vengeful purposes, the Dragoness of the Moon descended onto him. Sphere fought back, and for an entire night…” I shuddered. “…the moon turned the color of Her blood.”

 

The small Shadow-Blender bristled. “The moon turned red?” The old spunk that I was so used to began to resurface, and he leaned forward anxiously. “But…”

 

I could only shrug. “No dragon knows how to explain it. But every retelling of the story, even the ones by the more exotic dragons who could go centuries without meeting another soul, end it in the same way. The moon turned red, and the next morning, Sphere was gone. No body. Not even some scales.” I snorted. “He deserved it.”

 

The two of us stopped talking for several seconds. Hiccup looked at me expectantly, gradually figured out that I had finished, and plastered a fake smile onto his face.

 

“Oh,” he rubbed his cheek with a paw. “What a happy ending.”

 

I shrugged, shifting my wings to be more comfortable. “That’s what you get when you abuse your gifts.”

 

“Sphere only did that after he was exiled, though,” Hiccup dragged his eyes down at his feet. His body began to deflate. “It wasn’t…fair.”

 

Oh, _damn._

 

In an attempt to distract him, I butted my head against my companion’s chest. “You just wish you could make a sun,” I joked. I was rewarded with a playful shove. On instinct alone, I pounced, letting out a delighted laugh (hey, I _had_ managed to get Hiccup to feel better!)—and completely forgetting that we _were sitting in a tree_. Long story short, the fall was painful, and Hiccup somehow managed to land square on my back and crush me against a rock. I didn’t know that thing was even _there_.

 

“ _Ooow_. Way to go, Toothless!” Hiccup moaned, rolling off of me and shooting me an irritated glare.

 

“That was your fault,” I grunted, feeling like I had to fight gravity just to stand up. Gods, had that tree _grown_ while we were talking?! “Well…I guess we should…” I stopped short to get my bearings on the rock I was standing on while Hiccup scrambled up onto a taller, larger one that was adjacent to mine. He sat up on his haunches and looked around for anything that might have heard us. “…probably get moving,” I finished as I shook my body.

 

Hiccup groaned. “But we just got to this tree not even an hour ago!”

 

“Yeah, well, we fell out of it. So we should move.”

 

“ _We_? _You_ were the one who had to push us out of it, Mr. Tackles-A-Lot!”

 

“You started it! _You_ pushed _me_ , freckles!”

 

Hiccup’s ears and eyes flattened. “I _nudged_ you and you responded with a full-body _assault._ ”

 

“…Irrelevant. Come on, let’s go see if we can find something to hunt.” I looked around for something to jump on, but there were only trees around. Trees that were very young and not strong enough to hold me up without snapping. Sighing, I carefully stepped onto the ground, spreading my wings out halfway to help me keep my balance while I made my feet light.

 

Hiccup plopped to the ground next to me, seemingly uncaring of the giant footprints he left in the dirt. “Hey, Toothless?” His voice was suddenly small and afraid. I blinked, surprised by the sudden mood whiplash, and turned to fully face him. He shuffled, turning a leaf over with his claws. “I just…what are we going to do?”

 

The question caught me completely off-guard. “What do you mean?”

 

“Like…” Hiccup sighed, and mumbled almost incoherently, “What will we do after we knock the bridge out? Just live here the rest of our lives?”

 

I frowned heavily. Hiccup looked deeply troubled; this must have been bothering him since we escaped the other day. And I had no answer.

 

What would we do? Try to survive on a tiny island that could barely support one dragon? Every day would be a struggle, and the prey would run out before it could reproduce fast enough. We’d also have the Vikings literally right next to our nest, posing a constant threat. And there was nothing stopping them from using their strange, moveable water-tree-nests to cross islands.

 

At my silence, my friend’s eyebrows lowered and he sat down, wings limp on the ground. “Duh-duh-dah,” lowering his head, he sighed sullenly, “We’re dead.”

 

“No!” I snapped, squaring my feet and raising half-extended wings into the air, as if I were about to take off. “We are _not_ dead! We are very much alive! We just need to find a way off the island.” I stomped over to him and shoved myself into his side, forcing him to stand up. “Things were a lot worse when we were stuck in the cove and hated each other. If we survived my arrogance and your…I don’t know, Over-optimism? _Youness_ , that’s what I’m trying to say—then we can definitely get through this!”

 

“Thanks, Toothless.” Hiccup rolled his eyes.

 

I swatted him with my tail. “I’m being serious! All we need to do is just get away from here, and we’ll be fine.” _For awhile._

 

Something skittered past us, very close by. Hiccup started and I briefly watched it—a mouse, I think—before returning my attention to him. For a second, I stopped, taking in our surroundings. The leaves on the trees were so still, and even though it was foggy, the air felt incredibly…dry. I couldn’t even make out bugs buzzing through the air, which was an inconvenience I’d been forced to deal with ever since I lost my tailfin.

 

The former Viking seemed to sense the wrongness as much as I. He shuffled closer to me, staring in the same direction the entire time, and lightly pressed his side against mine. He was tense all over. I pressed my cheek against his momentarily in comfort.

 

“We should get going,” I said quietly, finally realizing that I had been shouting. Loudly. Hiccup swallowed heavily and nodded.

 

When several minutes of tip-toeing over boulders and further distancing ourselves from the cove had passed, I began to speak again. “I think there is a way for us to get off this island.” I stopped to smear my footprints behind me with my tail (I’d just climbed down from a boulder, but not slow enough). More hesitantly, I added, “But it’s more of a backup plan than anything. I still don’t know if it’ll work.”

 

In an instant, Hiccup’s ears were pressed against his head and his strange, bad mood had returned. “I’m not leaving you here,” he said firmly. He stumbled over an upturned tree root and I dove to catch him.

 

Smiling, I set him back up on his feet. “I know. I was talking about both of us, together. I…”

 

I had glanced up at the sky as I spoke—and immediately cut myself off. Eyes wide, I whispered, “Look at the moon.”

 

It wasn’t uncommon for the Dragoness of the Moon to be out during the morning. But when I’d checked the sun for the time, I had _not_ expected to see what appeared to be a full moon right besides it, completely visible yet offering no light onto the earth. If the Dragoness of the Moon and Dragon of the Sun were so close, what did that mean for us? And why had it seemingly switched positions in the sky?

 

 _An omen?_ I thought, stones weighing my heart down beneath waves.

 

“Woah!” Hiccup said. I tore my eyes away from the heavens to look quickly around, completely alert. In the corner of my vision, I could see him doing the same. “Uh, so what exactly is this ‘it’ thing?” He asked warily.

 

I began to walk again, but much more hurriedly this time. Hiccup didn’t hesitate to follow. “My idea was…” I couldn’t force back a grimace. Suddenly, this seemed like a bad idea. I was approaching it the wrong way. It would sound like I’d hidden something from him, only telling him about it when _I_ needed it.

 

In a way, I had.

 

Taking in my slumped posture, the innocent dragon nudged me worriedly. “Hey, what’s wrong? I thought an idea where both of us could be safe would be a good idea.” Worry creased his face. “Is it—“

 

I shook my head. “No, it’s not the moon. It’s…” I took a deep breath. Stalling would only make it worse. Here we go.

 

“You have magic inside of you. Strong magic that builds fast,” I admitted. Hiccup’s pupils contracted and his head reared back. “It could bring my tailfin back,” I stuttered, bringing my tail forward and fanning the only rudder I had, cowardly hiding my guilt-ridden face from him, “and we could be off the island easily.”

 

I dropped my crippled appendage. Hiccup gaped at more for a good while. “W-w-wait,” he said. “I have magic? Like yours?” Shock turned to anger at my confirmation. “And you knew?” His jaw dropped even further when I hung my head in shame, disbelief written across his face. “…why didn’t you _tell_ me?”

 

I opened my mouth to answer and stopped. Eyes and ears falling, I hunched over. “I should have,” I said. “I know that. I was…I felt that…” Raising my head to meet his eyelevel, I said softly, “I didn’t want to lose you.”

 

Hiccup took a step back, ears straight up and body frozen. “You mean that…this whole time, I could’ve…and you _knew_ …” Wide eyes bore into my skull, not quite seeing. “…you didn’t tell me even after…”

 

He was thinking of his father.

 

_No! I can’t be alone anymore!_

 

“I’m sorry!” I begged, jumping towards him. “I know I shouldn’t have! But I thought—I thought—“ Hiccup continued to back away, shaking his head and giving me a dead glare that I’d never seen before. Not even when I’d lied to him about eating one of his ‘friends’, or told him I wasn’t going to return him to his human form just because I wanted him to suffer.

 

Then he _hissed at me._ Hiccup, the pacifist, the nonaggressive, the non-confrontational, stared me flat down and _snarled_ at me, as if I were intruding on his territory.

 

 _Damnit, Toothless, make this right_ now!

 

My voice came rushing out in an avalanche. “I thought that if you knew you could change back, I would lose you! That you would go back to your nest, or try and be killed by them!” I exploded. “You were—are—the best thing that’s ever happened to me! You were so kind and understanding while I acting like I was the King of the earth!” I took a step forward, raising a shaking paw up to grab his arm. “You made me realize my mistakes, and taught me how to get over things, and you accepted me even after I was absolutely awful to you and blew every little thing out of proportion.” I stopped for a second, briefly acknowledging that he’d stopped moving away, but had not softened his expression at all. “I’m sorry!” I repeated desperately, suddenly feeling like I couldn’t speak anymore. “I’m sorry.”

 

Then I mumbled dejectedly, “I’ll just be quiet. You said you didn’t want to have these talks anymore.”

 

Hiccup’s furious expression suddenly dropped straight into despair. He leaned back, wings half extended, and stared at my leg—avoiding the magic-formed connection between us.

 

Oh, Dragon of the Sun! What’s _happening?!_ Why didn’t I tell Hiccup earlier?! I _knew_ that he wouldn’t have done what I was afraid of, and yet I still kept it a secret. Now he would never trust me again and it was my entire fault!

 

We stayed in our positions for a solid minute—me holding out my paw, trying to bring up the link between us to show how I had felt and failing, and Hiccup leaning away, eyes clouded over and body shaking. I knew very well that he had every right to slap me away and run off into the forest, never looking back. And that I deserved it for what I had done; I’d not only lied, but I’d taken away from him the only chance he could have at returning to his normal _human_ life, something that I forced to myself to ignore that he’d once had. I had taken his trust and played with it, choosing what to tell him and what not based on how emotionally stable _I_ was at the time. I had draped my influence over him and smothered him with it. If I were him, I would fly away and never look back.

 

I waited for the verbal lashing and the rage. The loss of friendship. I knew that, with us broken apart, one of us would end up dead. Shortly. And what crushed me was that it wasn’t going to be me.

 

He took in a deep, long breath, squeezing his eyes shut and claws digging up the earth. Eyebrows knitted together, he looked up at me with half-shut eyes. I braced myself for the ‘curse you’ speech that was sure to come. My heart hammered, my body tensed, and my leg, which was becoming sore from being held out for so long, began to shake. I licked my lips, mouth going dry. This was it.

 

“I forgive you.”

 

Hiccup lifted a paw and grabbed my forearm, squeezing it tightly before letting it go. I couldn’t speak. Eventually I could take it no longer and sat down, wings splayed in the dirt. What felt like the weight of the world lifted off of my shoulders.

 

The link rose between us when our gazes met. Hiccup’s thoughts were a chaotic mass of echoes bouncing between my ears, each one just barely discernable. He understood why I had not spoken—but he was still shocked at the cold-blooded secrecy. Even so, there was a strong, underlying current of gratefulness, and I finally realized that me telling him, even now, was better than hiding it from him. I had confirmed that one of his worst fears would not come true: that he would become a burden that needed to be shielded from the outside world.

 

This particular line of thoughts sparked a tiny bit of resentment, which I found myself sucked into unwillingly. My head pounded at the sudden onslaught of feelings and thoughts, but I couldn’t stop it.

 

 _Angry at himself_ , some part of me noted when I pushed more effort into ‘listening’ to that bit of emotion. It opened up easily; Hiccup was either busy reading my own, didn’t realize I was probing further into his mind, or didn’t care. He was thinking of his reaction to me just now, and his father, in that pocket of emotion. I bristled.

 

“Hiccup!” I asserted, standing up. “This is none of your fault!”

 

He looked away, but the connection held up. An overwhelming wave of guilt crashed me over— _I stole, I overreacted to Dad, I keep snapping at Toothless like I’m a spoiled child, I’m acting depressed when things could be so much worse_ —and left me breathless.

 

I walked over to him and forced him to look at me. “You aren’t to blame here. If anything else,” I continued softly, “this goes to show that. You…you could have just left, but instead you’re here. And you—you—“ I pushed aside a wave of embarrassment at my choking up, “you _forgave me._ I don’t even know how…”

 

For the first time in ages, Hiccup let a real smile spread onto his face. “What’s done is done. You were…justified, I think. Right now, we need to focus on the present. And,” he paused, glancing at his feet, “I shouldn’t have growled at you. I’m sorry. I was just confused, and I was thinking of what could have happened, and—“

 

I bent down and butted him in the head (to which his squeaked at, oops!). “Don’t feel guilty about that. I understand.” I rolled my eyes when he dramatically rubbed his head, making a snide comment about concussions. After a few seconds, I grew serious again. “But, Hiccup…thank you. No, don’t give me that look, I mean it. You could have simply _not_ forgiven me and you would have been completely in the right. What you did was _so_ opposite of what any dragon would have done, or has done. We usually don’t forgive or forget. So I…I really admire you for that.” I smiled at him, which he nervously returned.

 

“Oh, uh,” Hiccup rubbed his cheek, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “Wow. I, uh, didn’t expect that.” He paused to recollect his thoughts and tipped his head to the side a tiny bit. “You’re my friend, Toothless. I’m not a saint, and neither are you. Everyone makes mistakes every once in awhile…like me stealing, and you…well, not telling me about my apparent magic.” Both of us grimaced. “I’m not going to let myself get mad at you when you’ve been tolerating how awful I’ve been acting lately.” Shaking his head, he explained, “I shouldn’t have even been angry in the first place.”

 

I groaned. Again with the blaming.  “Hiccup—“

 

“Toothless, remember how I said I hated these talks?” Hiccup moaned. I sighed and smiled in amusement, and he let out a long breath. “Well, yeah. Let’s just agree that we’ve both screwed up and that we can fix it. There.” He looked at me anxiously, only really relaxing when I nodded in approval. “You know, I think you did mention that earlier…” He realized, looking back up at the odd placement of the moon.

 

“Oh,” I laughed sheepishly. Hiccup chuckled, which wasn’t much, but a huge improvement from this morning.

 

_Shhhhhh--crack!_

Both Hiccup and myself jumped when what appeared to be an insane rabbit darted out of a nearby bush and decided that running underneath me would be a good idea. I attempted to catch it, snapping both paws onto the ground, but it managed to escape, _damn!_ I ended up looking upside-down with my paws outstretched as far as they could in front of me and Hiccup laughing hysterically.

 

“Hahaha! You should see your face!” He wheezed, doubling over and lying on his side, paws hanging halfway into the air. “That was some superb hunting skills there, Toothless!”

 

If dragons could blush, then I would be doing that right now. “W-well!” I forced myself to stop from laughing. “Rabbit don’t usually do that!” What a stupid animal anyways, running right in front of two dragons which must have been very loud since we were focused on each other more than the environment—

 

Wait.

 

Rabbits don’t usually do that.

 

I stood up straight, ears perked and swiveling. “Hiccup, get up, I think that—“

 

_SWISH! SNAP! Br-br-br-br-br-br—_

I yelped when a long, wooden stick with bird feathers sticking out of the end launched past me, narrowly missing my nose and shuddering in a blur when it finally struck a tree nearby. A woodclaw?!

 

_Oh, no._

 

“ _Hiccup!_ Get up! Hurry!” Even though he was already scrambling, I leaped over to him and pulled him to his feet with his scruff, yanking him aside just before another woodclaw lodged itself in his neck. “Run!” I screamed, pushing him harshly in the opposite direction. Hiccup took off and I followed him for a split second, spun on my left paw, and sent a fireblast in the direction of the woodclaws. A couple human outcries rang out, and I even saw a silhouette fly limply backwards, but I was too busy trying to catch up with Hiccup to think about it.

 

“Don’t let them get away!” Someone yelled—the King, I realized. Hiccup’s father.

 

I turned around immediately to face him, eyes narrowed, face wrinkled, and wings half-raised. A fire had started, sending black smoke into the air and blotting out the sky. The King of the Vikings was standing in front of it, nonchalantly brushing off flaming embers that had latched onto his coat of fur hanging from his jaw. He was flanked by other humans, each wielding dangerous-looking weapons. The only names I knew were the sword and axe, but there was much more. I was less than intimidated; I was a _Shadow-Blender_. I could destroy _nests_ (or, according to Hiccup, ‘buildings’) _._

 

My heart plummeted when the ‘small’ group of Vikings _grew_ , with scores of them stepping out of the underbrush to see what had happened. Panic began to flicker when at least half of them appeared on my flanks. If there were this much here with me, then what about Hiccup?

 

Oh, no. _Hiccup!_

 

The sudden realization that my best friend, who had had minimal fighting training, was alone and probably surrounded by Vikings sent the worst fear I’d ever felt striking through my core. I called his name and swiveled around, but not before sending more fire over my shoulder and hopefully into the King. Being an expert at aiming, I had no doubt that it would hit him. That is, until I heard an idiotic Viking give a warning and take the hit, followed by a _thump_ that signaled that the wretched human had landed somewhere on the ground.

 

I snarled to myself. _Of course_ he survived. The Dragon of the Sun curse him to forever-sleep!

 

 _Focus on the present, Toothless_ , I reminded myself begrudgingly.

 

The trees and bushes whipped past me in a blur. I was running so fast I might as well had been flying. Sharp, high-pitched _piiing_ s around me signaled more woodclaws, but I couldn’t afford the time to pay attention to them—even when one hit me in the side of my right forearm. I yelped and forced myself to keep up my pace, even when the evil weapon refused to fall out of my leg.

 

The forest abruptly gave way to a small clearing. There were humans in front of me and…there! Hiccup was standing dead-center, crouched low to the ground in a pitiful fighting stance and shaking nose to tail. He was surrounded by Vikings with axes, swords, and other things, and also a few wielding woodclaws aimed at his neck. I charged another blast, jumped as high as I could, and propelled myself off of a tree to gain as much height as possible, wings open wide in an attempt to look more frightening to the cowards.

 

“ _Stay away from him!_ ” I bellowed with all the air in my body!

 

“Get down!” Someone warned, and all at once, the wooden imitations of the sun and moon the Vikings always held were covering their faces. I shot a blast into the center, just in front of Hiccup where there was slightly more humans, howling murder at the top of my lungs.

 

“Toothless!” Hiccup exclaimed, but he was lost in the smoke and I couldn’t tell whether he was happy or about to try and convince me to be _nice_ to them.

 

“Help me fight them off!” I said, grabbing a Viking and throwing her into another. They both fell off a steep cliff. I could just barely make out a _thud_ and _crunch_ when they landed. Another human swung his sword at me and I ducked and leaped at him, butted him while turning, and smacked him with my left wing in one smooth movement. The creature fell to the ground, coughing up what was probably blood. A group of three began to charge towards me, and taking the opportunity to take out more than one Viking, I grabbed the downed human and flung him at them. They stopped to grab him and do something dishonorable to him, most likely; Vikings generally don’t tend to their wounded and dead in battles. Disgusting.

 

The smoke was clearing out now, giving the bearers of the woodclaws more purchase. My foot was aching in pain and gushing blood, and I suddenly didn’t knew whether to take it out or leave it in. In my distraction, one Viking saw fit to lunge at me with a blunt, stonelike object, hitting me square in the shoulder. I snarled at the sudden pain and bit at his arm, jerking my head to the side and spitting out the amputated appendage. My right wing was suddenly very hard to move, and I knew that it’d been dislocated. _Ah! Not good!_

 

Leaving the Viking to wail in agony (I am an _honorable_ dragon), I turned around, smacked another one wielding a sword with my tail, and ran in the general direction Hiccup had been in. Any smoke that had been left was rendered useless as I bolted out of it. More and more Vikings were flooding into the clearing, row upon row surrounding me, and I couldn’t even glide away! The group from behind had already caught up!

 

“Hiccup!” I screeched upon not seeing him anywhere. “Where are you?!” My heart began to pound when I realized that I _couldn’t see him anywhere._ A sea of humans was advancing on me in the meantime, completely surrounding me. I gasped when one that I couldn’t see threw a small, miniature sword at me, where it stuck deep into my left side and made my breathing incredibly hard. I had enough sense to lean over and rip it out (noticing the horrifying sensation of having something sharp inside of me in the process) and instantly realized my mistake.

 

Humans imploded in on me, battle cries ringing throughout the forest. I began to charge more fire at the group in front of me, preparing to force my way through.

 

But there were _so many…_ Usually, I was in the skies and well above their reach. I had never faced a group of humans this large on land.

 

 _Dragoness of the Moon_ , I prayed, _please, just make sure that Hiccup is okay._

 

Flaring my wings despite the huge pain, I leaped in the air just in time to avoid woodclaws from nearly every direction from slicing me up into little pieces. Closing my eyes, I focused on my magic for the first time since I’d healed Hiccup’s wound, using it to wash away the pain and revitalize my muscles. It was temporary, and it would hurt like hell later—but I had to make sure that there would _be_ a later.

 

I snapped magic-influenced wings open and shot a volley of fireblasts directly beneath me, knocking away all the humans who had dared corner me. Smoke rose once again, and I ducked and glided in a random direction. The stupid Vikings were all lost in dismay, fear, and confusion.

 

I landed on a stone just on the outskirts, puffing my chest up with pride and smirking. My magic faded, leaving my muscles sore and throbbing, but intact. I gazed at the scrambling silhouettes beneath the black fog, studying their movements, and then turned and ran off into the forest.

 

“Hiccup!” I hissed, trying to look in every direction at once. A tree branch snapped from behind and I spun around, teeth bared. The pine needles shifted and suddenly took shape, revealing no dragon other than Hiccup among them. I relaxed immediately.

 

“ _Toothless!_ Oh, thank the gods!” He leaped down and wrapped his front paws around my neck, rubbing his cheek against mine. He was shaking more than a leaf in a thunderstorm. “I-I-I was surrounded, and when you came I ran away, but you didn’t follow me, and I realized that you might need my help and then there were explosions and—“

 

The voices of the humans, which I had been half-listening to during Hiccup’s ramblings, suddenly grew in intensity. “Shh!” I said sharply, turning around. My companion dropped to all fours and took a huge intake of air, most likely at seeing my injuries. My entire left side was soaked in blood, halfway from the small sword and the other half from me pulling it out so recklessly. I knew my wing was half-opened at an odd angle, and that arrow was still sticking out of my leg and turning it crimson. All of that would have to wait, though—the sounds were becoming more concentrated…

 

“We need to leave. Now!” I spun around and lead Hiccup forward, dodging between tree trunks, fallen rocks, and ditches as we moved further uphill. We were beginning to climb up the mountain, which would hopefully deter the clumsy humans.

 

_Peeeew! Peeew! Peeew!_

 

Hiccup tried to muffle a pained outcry that made my heart stop. I halted and he continued to run past me, a long scrape running from his thigh to his knee. Woodclaws swarmed the air around us, along with their small swordlike companions and several other objects, including rocks and entire _tree limbs_. I groaned and forced my legs to move faster, even though they were begging me to stop.

 

“They found us!” I growled as I dodged under an upturned tree.

 

Hiccup shot me a glare. “No kidding, Captain Obvious!” After a short silence, he panted, “Where are we going, anyways?!”

 

I stole a look over my shoulder. Those damn Vikings were _durable_ ; I’d shot directly into their crowd, and several of them were injured and bleeding, and they were still chasing after us far faster than any human should go! I could barely make out the King in the front, a sword in hand. He was making strange gestures with his paws and shouting something that I couldn’t understand.

 

I focused on what was in front of me again. “We need to get out of their reach! Somewhere high and unclimbable!” The hill we were traveling up suddenly rose at a sharp angle, transitioning from ‘steep’ to ‘deadly cliff’ in meters. I could just barely make out a cave in the side, half-covered by branches and directly above a straight drop. “There! That cave!” I said in relief. There was _no_ way a human could make that climb!

 

“I think I know that cave!” Hiccup warned between huge intakes of air. “I used to—“ he yelped when something hit him but continued to run, “—ugh! Ah! I used to—to walk around the forest a lot, there’s an outlet!”

 

I risked another peek over my shoulder. We were slowing from the injuries—the humans were becoming more excited for the kill and gaining speed. I felt like roaring in frustration; no Shadow-Blender deserved to be dishonored like this, treated like _prey!_ “We’ll have to worry about that later!” I decided. “Get in there!”

 

Hiccup reached it far faster than I expected and easily made the jump. When I tried, though, my bad wing failed! My eyes widened in fear as I clawed at the edge, a sitting target!

 

Thank the Dragoness of the Moon Hiccup saw me in time. He lunged at my neck, grabbed my scruff clumsily(a small part of me laughed at the irony that _he_ was grabbing me this time), and dragged me up. I didn’t bother looking behind me as we scrambled into the dark, cool air of the cave. There was nothing but the cold stone walls and our labored breathing.

 

And a lot of pain.

 

* * *

 

I followed Hiccup until he stopped—and by the gods, there _was_ an outlet. A tiny pinprick of light could just barely be seen from both directions, though it was smaller in the direction we’d been heading towards. Hiccup dropped to the ground, struggling to catch his breath, while I lied down much more carefully and yanked the woodclaw out of my arm. More blood than I’d expected gushed out and sprayed over the cavern floor. I grimaced and ran my tongue over it.

 

“Are you…okay…Toothless?” Hiccup’s voice was barely above a whisper. Gods, he was _so tired_. I didn’t know how we were going to make it out of this.

 

I nodded, realized he wasn’t looking at me, and said, “Y-yeah. Just shaken. Got a few scratches here and there.” I stared at the wound on my side as I said this. It had widened. Each breath sent spikes through my chest. I feared that a rib had been cracked, or worse, a lung punctured. I needed a dragon trained in healing through magic, and quickly.

 

All I wanted to do was sleep. But I knew I couldn’t. Groaning, I forced myself to my feet and focused on my shoulder. “Hiccup, can you help me with my wing?” I asked guiltily. He needed rest, and I was dragging him away from it.

 

“Of course!” Despite his exhaustion and pain, he leaped to his feet. At my worried look—he’d received several scratches and his scales were cracked in certain areas—he smiled weakly. “I’m a lot less worse than you. Toothless…how are we going to fix that?” He stared at my blood-bathed side in horror.

 

Shrugging, I feigned confidence. “We’ll figure it out. I need you to push this shoulder muscle up when I stretch it, though…” I gestured with my head towards my dislocated muscles and bone as I said this. Hiccup gave me a narrowed-eyed look that I quickly avoided. He knew I was lying.

 

Without saying a word, the Shadow-Blender advanced on my side, half-standing on a boulder with his left front paw to reach my wing with his right. He looked at me, waiting.

 

 _Gods, this is going to hurt!_ I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my wing out. Hiccup pushed my bone back into its socket where it _snapped!_ back into its cavity, pulling all the muscles attached to it and stretching them far too tightly, far too fast.

 

I let out a short, shrill squeal and fell over, forcing myself to clamp my mouth shut and hiss instead. Hiccup panicked, caught between trying to hold me down and help me up while I clawed at the ground in an attempt to stop myself from striking him on instinct. Several quiet moments of me squeezing air through clenched teeth prevailed. I carefully folded my wing over.

 

“It worked,” I moaned. _Damn_ , that was a lot worse than the last time that happened. Then again, I’d been under the influence of a dragoness’ healing magic.

 

“Yeah, but what about this gash?” There was a slight pressure on the aforementioned injury. I flinched, causing Hiccup to recoil and squeak out an apology.

 

Ever so slowly, I pushed myself off the freezing stone floor, acutely aware of all of my injuries. In an attempt to get my mind off of them, I asked, “Are you injured? Besides those?” I gestured with my tail at the several wounds he’d received along the backs of his arms, hindquarters, and lower back from being struck by the throwing weapons. Adrenaline rushed through me once more when I finally noticed that a good majority of them were _still_ bleeding, even though a normal dragon would have already been fine by now.

 

Hiccup nodded weakly. “I-I’m fine. I just…” His legs trembled once, and his knees gave out. I moved faster than I thought possible, catching him on my back despite the agony. Hiccup’s breathing came out in short bursts and he shivered, as if he’d just plunged beneath an icy lake. “T-Tooth—“

 

I froze as he broke down from the stress of the situation, falling limp and choking up. For a split second, I only felt relief; I thought he had been collapsing from _injury_ , not emotion. This was quickly blasted away by the sudden fear that this would be one incident too many for Hiccup—fragile, too easily-forgiving and hopeful Hiccup—and that his lethargy would return tenfold. And with a permanence.

 

It didn’t help that, when he pushed himself off of me and tried to take a shaky step forward, he crumbled once again. Just like last time, I caught him, swallowing a pained squeal.

 

The complete unfairness of the situation weighed down on me far more heavily than Hiccup’s weight. Was one break too hard to ask?! The gods had always seemed to be on our side, and now it was almost as if they’d turned traitor, as if they wanted us to die! It shouldn’t be possible for two dragons to have to deal with this much pain, _especially_ Hiccup! He was only trying to help me—I should be the one punished, not him! _Damn it!_ I wanted to scream to the dragon gods, _He was just healing from his father!_

 

Gritting my teeth, I forced a growl back and began to tread towards the opposite end of the cave. Hiccup’s breathing was still coming out in little bursts and he would twitch occasionally, but otherwise stayed completely still, tail dragging limp on the ground and wings folded sloppily. After about three minutes I once again felt something grabbing the injury to my side—looking over my shoulder showed Hiccup futilely trying to hold the middle of the wound and keep the blood from coming out. His eyes were squeezed shut in concentration.

 

I smiled grimly. “You can’t hold it shut, Hiccup. But—“ I paused for air, “thanks…” I trailed off when he shook his head wildly, face scrunching up further. The cavern around me swayed in and out and darkened, a constant buzz beginning to ring loudly in my ears. I looked away from Hiccup, head bowed and struggling to breathe, eyes wide. I couldn’t pass out! Not here! Not now! Hiccup was too weak to even walk, emotionally and physically! He was still so weak from such a long time without food. I was his only protection!

 

 _Gods, just keep me_ awake! I begged silently, shakily grasping consciousness, barely walking. Hiccup grunted behind me, but he sounded so far away, as if he were talking across a distance and I could only barely make out what he was saying. The light at the end of the tunnel looked like it was withdrawing in fear, growing dimmer and dimmer, the tunnel stretching out endlessly in front of me. A strong wave of vertigo overcame me.

 

My head felt like it was compressing and becoming heavier than it had ever been and images that I had never seen before flashed before my eyes so fast, I could barely make them out. I saw the King; I saw Hiccup as a human looking in a reflection of himself and trying to look intimidating; I saw ‘Astrid’ flipping her hair and walking in front of an explosion, narrowly missing being hit by a piece of shrapnel; I saw myself, hatred in my eyes, pupils so thin they were barely visible, teeth bared to their fullest, paw extended and forcing the viewer down; I saw the blood-red silhouette of the Queen, her mouth a gaping black hole; I saw an explosion shatter the earth itself; I saw a fishing net.

 

A roar drowned my ears out and in, loud like the waves of the sea and torrents of wind and the silent pulsing of a still lake, and I heard voices calling my name, alarmed and confused, and all I wanted to do was to call back out to them and plea for help, or at least help Hiccup, and my vision darkened, and suddenly I felt like I was in flying, finally broken from a cage even though I was in suicidal, glorious freefall—

 

* * *

…

 

…blood. I smelled blood.

 

I could only assume it was coming from me. My back hurt, my midsection was aflame with agony, but above it all, my head felt _wrong_ ; it wasn’t a headache, or even pain, but I felt insecure out of nowhere, like I had been invaded without consent. My eyes were shut but brilliant colors convulsed and expanded in my vision, like the fire of the deceased that dance in the night skies if you travel north enough.

 

I could feel someone lightly shaking my neck. There was a voice, repeating the same set of sounds over and over with slight variations. It sounded worried, shaky, and high-pitched in panic.

 

The _blood_ , though, the _blood!_ It was awful! Where had it come from? Why did—

 

_Hiccup’s laughing cut short and he hurried to his feet. I grabbed him anyways, screaming for him to run._

_Something struck me, slicing across my ribcage. I ripped the human’s arm off._

_Vikings scattered everywhere while I escaped, aided by a fireblast._

_Something hauled me over a cliff into a cave._

_Hiccup desperately gripped my wound, hoping that he could stop it from bleeding._

 

“ _Hiccup!_ ” My eyes snapped open and I jerked out of my resting position and to my feet, breathing heavily and looking in every direction possible. Hiccup was crouched in fear in front of me, and for a second, we both stared at each other and did nothing else. The link burst forth; Hiccup had been concentrating on _something,_ what he didn’t know, and I had passed out. He was so scared, but _so_ happy and shocked that the conflict of the emotions glued him to the spot and he was unable to move. I ran at him and tackled him, wrapping my paws around his neck.

 

Even though we’d both stopped looking each other in the eye, the connection continued. Relief, happiness, and the ever-present fear were bursting from both of us, but we were just happy to be awake, and I was so thankful that he’d somehow regained the strength to stand back up and walk on his own that I didn’t even care that we were _still_ in the cave that most likely was swarming with Vikings on one end. We were alive! That was all that mattered!

 

“I’m sorry!” Hiccup moaned, slowly lowering to his feet and shrinking inwards. “I shouldn’t have just fallen on you and let you carry me, I should’ve tried harder to walk, I—“

 

“Don’t be,” I cut him off, checking over my body. The link faded away. The wound in my leg had mostly closed off and was barely oozing blood. That terrible scrape between my left legs, though…

 

I grimaced. “How long was I out?”

 

The slash had a thin, yellowish membrane over it; the beginnings of a scab that had been infected. The outer edges of it were the gruesome purple-blue of bruised skin. My scales had fallen off in that entire area. I fought back the urge to retch and quickly looked away, not wanting to see _that_ on _my_ body.

 

I could hear angry voices in the direction of the entrance we’d used. It was a secondary thought. Vikings or not, humans can’t climb cliffs unless they leap on top of each other’s shoulders. Last time I checked, most of them were far too overweight for that.

 

Hiccup shook his head. “Awhile. I…” he looked down, pawing at the ground nervously. “I thought I could heal you.”

 

My ears stood straight up. I gaped at him in horror as he seethed, “But it _didn’t work!_ All I did was make you pass out! And it didn’t even do anything to your cut, that happened after you fell over, and by then I was too worried that I was doing it wrong…” He shook his head and looked up at me dully. “I’m sorry, Toothless.”

 

I slowly shook my head. “Hiccup,” I began slowly. “You could have killed yourself doing that.” His ears and wings dropped in dismay. “Remember that scrape you got awhile ago? In the same spot as me? That took a _lot_ of magic for me to heal. And it was half the size of this one.” I looked back at the uninfluenced injury and continued, “You’re untrained. You were stressing the wrong form of magic on the wrong spot. You could have given yourself forever-sleep.” That was the worst situation possible, a part of me spoke up. I pushed it aside; Hiccup was reckless and didn’t know much about magic, therefore making it a possibility.

 

“Forever-sleep?” He sounded like he didn’t really want to know. “It’s…exactly how it sounds, isn’t it?” I nodded, and Hiccup jolted as if I’d slashed him across the face. “I—I’m so sorry, I didn’t know I could give you that! Toothless, I’m so—!”

 

My ears pressed against my head. “Stop!” I snapped, getting (carefully) to my feet. He did as he was told, fear flying across a weak link back and forth between the two of us. We were both too high-strung for this. “Stop blaming yourself for everything! You did nothing wrong.” I said the last part much quieter, realizing that I was yelling at him. “You had no way of knowing; it was _my_ fault that I didn’t tell you about your magic earlier and train you in it. Not yours. And you wouldn’t have been able to put me in forever-sleep anyways—it’s _you_ that you should be worried about, not me!” I limped to him and put my lower chin on his forehead. “You need to care about yourself more. It’s not selfish.”

 

Hiccup stared at my side as I pulled away. Something in his face, in his eyes, in his entire persona, was different. He looked forlorn, a sad acceptance set grim on his face. The link allowed a quiet ‘ _It happened again’_ to travel through before dying out like fading thunder.

 

And then, like lightning, something snapped into place. Something I’d never really thought about, but was suddenly obvious to me.

 

He wasn’t the weak little dragon I was making him out to be—he was brave, pushing his own limits to take the hits and failing under the massive pressure. He’d been given so many opportunities to make things ‘right’ for him and the humans, and instead, he’d chosen _me._ Of _course_ he was blaming himself.

 

He had done everything in his power to do what he had felt was best, and then when he hadn’t succeeded, he told himself that he was the reason, as those in his past used to _._ He had ‘failed’ to explain to ‘Astrid’ and her friends what had happened despite them being  snobbish little brats that was unable to see anything but _their_ way, and he had ‘failed’ to convince his father, the most stubborn of Vikings, that he was not an enemy. And now, he had ‘failed’ to heal me, and was under the impression that he nearly killed me—all another slap in the face of what he _couldn’t_ do. What he’d messed up _again._ How he’d been that ‘royal screw-up’ he always called himself, how he couldn’t do _anything_ right, how he was always dependent.

 

And he just took it, covering it up with sarcasm and optimism, unable to speak about it despite championing ‘talking about it’ methods himself. Holding back for an entire lifetime, especially against those physically stronger than oneself, breeds insecurity and a lack of confidence.

 

I turned around to watch the opening the Vikings were trying to get through. All I could feel was anger. Vehemence. _Hatred._ No human was _ever_ going to get away with this again.

 

The shouts were rising in volume. They echoed into the cave, making Hiccup flinch and whine. But something was off; the noises weren’t coming from the direction I was facing. It almost sounded like—!

 

I snapped to attention. Despair hit me hard. They were coming from the opposite direction.

 

_They were coming from the opposite direction!_

 

I turned around so fast my wound broke open, once again spilling blood. The tiny pinprick of light on the other end of the tunnel flickered once as something dropped in from above. Then it dimmed again and again and again, giving way to the silhouettes of horns and weapons.

 

“Time to go,” Hiccup said bluntly, turning around. I growled in acknowledgement and heaved a deep breath, preparing to shoot them all down. They were fools to enter such a thin space when I had the power to make them _explode!_ This was going to be easy. And fun.

 

At least, that’s what I assumed until I heard my friend let loose a short, wretched wail. “Toothless, they’re coming in on both sides!”

 

The shock of that statement made me jolt just as I released my greatest weapon, and the fireblast went out of control, hitting the ceiling and erupting into a cacophony. The idiot humans that had managed to duck were crushed under the ceiling as it caved in, and the ones that survived stumbled to their feet. The light at the end of the tunnel, our ‘surefire’ way out, the reason we stopped to damn rest, blotted out forever. I swiveled around to make sure Hiccup just wasn’t seeing things—well, _hoping_ he was just seeing things.

 

My heart sank.

 

“Run!” I cried, pulling the paralyzed Hiccup by his tail. “We have to find another exit!”

 

Thank the gods he managed to snap out of his fear. The small dragon backpedaled and nearly sprinted right into me. He stopped short at seeing the Vikings on the other end cautiously approaching. “There _isn’t_ another exit, Toothless!”

 

I crouched low, refusing to turn my back on the frontward approach. I felt Hiccup bump into my rear, our wingtips brushing against each other for a second. He, too, had assumed a battle stance.

 

Even though my heart was hammering, I forced my voice to sound calm. “Then we have to fight them.”

 

“I don’t think I can,” was the brutally honest, strangely calm response I dreaded.

 

I spread my wings out protectively. “Then you’re going to have to figure a way to stop them—“ I turned and whipped my tail at a Viking that had foolishly run forward, sending him stumbling back. In response, her comrades charged, filling the cave from all sides. “—before they do that!” I snarled in frustration and, I hate to admit it, terror.

 

Fireblast after fireblast was sent down on the approaching monsters, but it seemed like when one fell two others took their place. In the time we had rested, reinforcements had arrived, carrying off the wounded and dead and replenishing their stock with fresh weapons and bloodlust. I just barely managed to keep the humans at bay, but I knew that I would run out of my precious fire before I could get rid of all of them. For a second, I considered caving in the ceiling as I’d done to the other group, but where would that leave us? Trapped with no way out, starving to death. Shadow-Blenders aren’t the greatest digging dragons.

 

I hissed, starting to charge up—

 

**_ROOAAR!!_ **

Everyone in the cave halted. Hiccup continued screaming at the Vikings that had ventured towards him, wings stretched out so far they brushed the edges of the cave and (I assumed) teeth bared. The humans had the good sense to back up when my friend took a single step towards them. Flaring his wings again, he advanced on them until they scrambled away to reevaluate their actions. Possibly their lives, dreams, hopes, etcetera.

 

I grinned confidently and turned to face my own special Vikings, prepared to use their distraction to my advantage. Barreling right through their ranks, I flashed out my wings and tails to push the humans out and over the edge, into the daylight and heart-sinkingly _enormous_ crowd. The stupid little things could only scream as they fell. I may as well had been picking single needles off of a pine tree.

 

Time to change tactics. If _Hiccup_ , bless his soul, could scare Vikings, then I know that _I_ certainly could. “Hah!” I gave them a full-toothed grin in false bravado, flaring my wings at the entrance of the cave. There were strange wooden objects propped up against it, but for what use they were I had no idea. “You thought you had it easy, didn’t you?”

 

Woodclaws leaped up at me, along with an assortment of other items. I turned to bolt into the cave, cursing my stupidity.

 

Right then, as I had my back turned for just one little second, everything shattered to pieces, and all at once several things happened.

 

First, something caught my wing. It ripped a hole right through it, ricocheted off the cavern, and bounced off of my back and onto the floor. I screamed, louder than I expected, and drew in my wounded appendage to get a closer look. It hurt more than the gash in my flank!

 

Second, a loud, dull _thwack_ reverberated throughout the cave. My peripheral vision caught Hiccup stumbling to the ground under the weight of the blow.

 

Third, a rope, weighed down on both ends with stones, just like the contraption that struck me down all those days ago, came soaring from _above._ I reacted almost exactly as I had the first time: somehow knowing that no matter how far I moved it would catch me, and screaming in disdain and fear at the impending doom twirling at dizzying speeds towards me.

 

Still, my attempt to dodge the weapon was genuine. I turned and jumped in the air, wings in the process of spreading out to push me forward faster, when it hit me from behind and locked everything together. I hit the ground hard and tumbled, but I couldn’t stop! My legs were plastered to my body and my wings stung in agony if I so much as stretched them! My descent skidded to a stop right besides Hiccup, who gaped in horror while the humans on both ends of the cave gave a victory cheer.

 

The humans swarmed in.

 

“Run!” I ordered as Hiccup began chewing and clawing at my bindings. He snapped one, two, three! And then the demons he was distracting earlier came upon him, whisking away any hope I had that I might be able to get out.

 

One tried to stab him with a sword. After halting for a valuable moment, Hiccup managed to pull himself away just out of reach. He swatted the glaring metal away from him and stood over me, feet squared, head low to the ground, a real growl rising from his throat. Still believing that he was pulling a facade, the human and his friends advanced, aiming for the kill.

 

Hiccup snarled, teeth sheathed to their fullest, and struck his tail at them like a whip. The spines on the edges of it cut the tiny group of less than five in any spot without armor, literally sending them off their feet and into the air before they landed in a confused heap a few feet away. Once the immediate threat was gone, though, Hiccup backed down!

 

“Finish them off!” I cried, flailing against my restraints to no avail. One rope shifted and began cutting deep inside my side wound, and the pain alone stopped me.

 

Rage filled me to the brim when Hiccup turned to look at something I couldn’t see, visibly shaking in terror, and I could do was watch. Despite the pain I struggled, roaring as if the power of my voice alone would scare away my helplessness. If I couldn’t break free, then Hiccup would surely die!

 

Said dragon was shrinking closer and closer to the ground, teeth bared, pupils nearly invisible. He was trying to act like I had, brave and strong, but even a human could tell that he was scared stiff. Still, when I felt the vibrations of an approaching hunter, he once again batted it away (this time with his wing), keeping a close guard over me.

 

“Run, Hiccup! Don’t worry about me!” I demanded, putting as much authority into my voice as I could. Hiccup didn’t budge.

 

I was finally forced when waves of agony sent me on the brink of unconsciousness. The adrenaline rush from before, the one I’d relied so heavily on, had faded, leaving me tired and useless. The sudden drop in magic also had my stomach rolling and head pounding. All in all, a very bad time to be stuck under a rope.

 

He glanced at me for a second. “I’m not leaving you!” The hybrid yelped and jumped out of the way of a woodclaw, which bounced off of the unnatural scales of a human behind him. This small, insignificant action was the breaking point. Everything fell apart, just as the roof to our only escape had.

 

Several Vikings launched themselves onto my best friend, digging their weapons into his scales and forcing him to the ground. He screamed and thrashed wildly, but they were too strong!

 

“Hiccup!” I wailed, straining every muscle to their fullest! I _couldn’t break free!_ “ _Hiccup!_ ”

 

Try as I might, I knew that I would ultimately fail, and it _infuriated_ me. I could do _nothing_ as my only friend was held down, bound, and left lying there.

 

The entire hunting party filed inside the cave, whooping in excitement and planning out our deaths right in front of us. The King of their tribe, Hiccup’s damned _father_ , stepped right up to the both of us and examined us like we were nothing but prizes.

 

I snapped.

 

So did the ropes.

 

I launched myself at the King, screaming for his blood, and knocked him off his feet. His enormous paws came up to grab my ears to yank me off, but I wouldn’t stop! I reared my head and dug my teeth into his chest and upper shoulder! Almost immediately, I noticed the bitter, stinging taste of metal. Little time was spent thinking on it; I was just about to rip the bigger portion of this _devil’s_ chest out when something finally registered with me.

 

Hiccup was shrieking loud enough to be heard on the other side of the island. “ _NO!_ Toothless, _stop! STOP!”_

 

It was enough to make me pause. Which gave the surrounding Vikings plenty of time to attack.

 

Weapons were suddenly striking me from all directions. Something hit my head, hard and cold, leaving me rattle and confused. My right shoulder received a nasty slice. I was vaguely aware of something stepping on my tail, but by that time I was lashing blindly out in every direction in a fury, trying to find Hiccup in a blur of colors and angry faces to no avail. I screamed his name, and I know he responded, but I couldn’t make it out or tell where it came from!

 

A black-furred Viking with a very similar scent to the King reared a paw back and struck me with it. As I recoiled on reflex, he and several others grabbed my head and _slammed_ me into the ground! The world went black for just a moment, and when I came to every inch of my body was being held down. I felt something, not rope, being tightly bound around my legs and wings. Everything was slanted, and it took me far longer than it should have to realize that I was lying on my side.

 

“Hiccup!” I tried one more time, my voice hitching. No response. “Hiccup…”

 

The King, who was standing over something directly ahead, turned around to glance at me. He shifted to walk, and as soon as he did I realized what he was looking at.

 

The link reappeared, weak on both ends. Hiccup’s eyes were fluttering, dull and gray, and a nasty wound on his right eyebrow was pouring blood. He was badly wounded. I chocked up.

 

“Knock them out.”

 

Fear. Confusion. Abandonment. Shock. All bundled up into one huge mass of disbelief, as if he couldn’t understand that this was really happening.

 

I reached out to him, and he did the same, barely an inch apart. For the life of me, I can’t remember if we ever reached each other.

 

* * *

The world slowly focused around me in a soft haze. Everything felt slowed down; sounds echoed all around me and anything that moved left a glowing trail of itself behind it. Even my sense of smell, shockingly accurate most of the time, felt dulled and oily, like someone was gagging me with a cloth. The only sensation in sharp focus was the overall pain searing every inch of me.

 

Strangely enough, the voices around me were happy, joyful even. I tried to focus on them, or at least open my eyes more than mere slits, but I felt like my entire body was weighted down with stone. _Come on, Hiccup, focus._ Despite my best efforts, the fog refused to lift away.

 

 _Ugh…_ I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to clear them and forced them open, digging my claws into the wooden surface below me. Wooden? I don’t remember falling asleep in a tree—not that I ever would want to in the first place.

 

The first thing I saw was green. Leaves, grass, and bushes. And, for just a second, I felt like everything was all right. That is, until I realized that half of the green around me was the color of the tunics that the warriors of Berk were currently wearing. It took all I had to not immediately begin shouting in fear, or for Toothless, or just help in general.

 

My panic seemed to cause the world to come into focus almost instantaneously. I was surrounded by men and women, all carrying weapons of some sort, some of them bloodied. Because I had all but frozen like a deer, they hadn’t noticed that I was awake yet. Right away it became apparent that they were so calm for a reason; my wings were strapped tightly against my body, which was covered in restraints onto something…wooden. I didn’t know what it was (a wagon? I think I’ll call it a wagon.), but it rolled, was being pulled and pushed by an entire time of Vikings, and secured me in place.

 

_Aw, shit._

 

My heart hammered in my chest and my breathing accelerated. Surely they would notice I was awake now and do _something_ , probably hurt me again for laughs! My claws dug into the wooden structure further, emitting a tiny creaking sound. Calm down. Calm down. I’m awake and they don’t know it yet. Use it as an opportunity.

 

Wait, where was Toothless? I hadn’t seen him in front of me. Sure, he could’ve been behind me, but I didn’t know that for sure.

 

Forcing oneself to be calm is actually very hard, not surprisingly. But I couldn’t fail here, when this could possibly be my only chance! I closed my eyes again, feigning unconsciousness, and tried to open my wings. They barely even shuddered.

 

“Woah! Did you see that?” Someone yelped.

 

“Calm down, it’s probably just twitching like the other one,” a woman laughed.

 

The other one? I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. They hadn’t killed Toothless, which was a blessing in itself. The only problem was that my former village-mates were keeping a very keen eye on us, if they were able to see me move my wings like that. Toothless was probably attempting to check his bindings as well; while he was compulsive, he wasn’t stupid, and he knows that outright struggling would earn him more than just a hammer to the head.

 

_Where’s Dad?_

 

The second I thought it, I tried to shoo the uncomfortable wave of memories away. No. I was not going to think of my father right now. If I did then I would end up wallowing in self-pity and not get _anything_ done. I had to think of a way out.

 

The wagon bumped. Pain jolted inward and outward. I couldn’t help it—gods, how I wished I could—I squealed. The team of joyous Vikings stopped, and someone called out for my father to come ‘and take a look at this one’.

 

_Keep your eyes closed._

 

Dad’s heavy footsteps thudded next to me. I could practically see the disappointed scowl settled onto his face. “Yes, I heard it. It’s awake.”

 

_Keep your eyes closed._

 

The same man as before spoke up, “Sir, the black one was awake a couple minutes ago. They’re recovering.”

 

He snorted. “No, they’re just waking up. Just knock it out again.”

 

For the first time in weeks, I heard Gobber’s voice. “Ya sure? I mean, what I mean is, he’s not really doin’ anythin’. Maybe—“

 

“ _I said_ , knock it out again.”

 

_Keep your eyes closed._

 

Gobber hummed, undeterred. “Maybe he just cried out in his sleep. He doesn’t _look_ awake. Dragons don’t play dead.”

 

“Tell that to Spitelout. He nearly lost his arm to the devil when it was ‘asleep’,” Dad fumed.

 

Well, that explains the charming muzzle.                       

 

Gobber’s next comment was under his breath, not meant for anyone else to hear. But he’d never been a quiet person, and was never afraid of speaking his mind on things he felt passionately about. “Well, Hiccup isn’t that Night Fury—“

 

“ _It isn’t Hiccup!_ ” Dad roared. Shock caused me to snap my eyes open to see the two standing right in front of me, just off to my right. They immediately took notice of my sudden wakefulness, as did the surrounding Vikings, but my eyes were glued onto Dad’s. I stared, hopefully in a calm, totally-not-terrified way, until he reached for his sword. About then was when I realized that I probably shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.

 

Holding the sword high, Dad pointed its tip down at me, its deadly edges glinting in weak sunlight. I fixed wide eyes on him, silently pleading, hoping to get a message across like I could with Toothless. It felt like forever, as if the two of us were the only people in the forest. Dad’s fist tightened repeatedly over the handle. Then he dropped his arm, detest written all across his face, and backed away.

 

He gave one of the numerous hushed warriors around him a furious, pointed look. “Knock it out.”

 

* * *

I woke up again to creaking, swaying, and a very sick stomach.

 

Huh? When did _this_ happen? My claws twitched into something…wooden?...and my entire body throbbed. Adrenaline rushed through my body in response to my fear, but fear of what? Why had I suddenly awakened to this?

 

I’m sad to say it took me easily over a minute to finally remember what had happened. I was still confused, though.

 

Just like before, my senses were drowsy and unfocused, unable to tell me where exactly I was. My head hurt terribly—whoever went after me must have hit me hard—and I was having trouble making coherent observations. I didn’t make the mistake of opening my eyes again, not even for a second. After what had happened, I—

 

My body lurched sharply to the right, followed by the loud moan of old wood, which caused several people to let out various “Woah!”s. I gritted my teeth, eyes squeezing. I knew where we were now. We were on _that_ bridge. That unstable, not-very-sturdy, heart-droppingly _old_ bridge. The silence around me reflected the fear that the people of Berk could not voice without being ridiculed. Or maybe not; maybe they were quiet because there was nothing to say, or they were concentrating. I wasn’t one of them, after all; how could I _possibly_ know what they were feeling?

 

The bridge tipped to the left this time. I leaned as far right as I could, which was not much, considering how much my head hurt. It was making it hard to even concentrate on my own thoughts, no less _moving._ I just wanted to _not_ be here, to wake up somewhere less precarious! Of all the times to come to, I had to on this _bridge?_

 

The wagon began to tip on its own. Someone’s hand pushed down on my forehead momentarily as they righted it. It was warm and sweaty.

 

The overwhelming urge to _attack_ , to give them payback for such harsh treatment, fiercely overcame me. I wanted to hurt them and make them suffer. But more than that, I wanted to _kill_ them. Every inch of my body screeched, _ATTACK! KILL!_

 

I know I could’ve; if I concentrated and rocked hard enough, I could send this bridge—and everyone on it—flipping over to their doom.

 

I almost did it. I was so angry, upset, and downright _through_ with all the stress and pain that Berk had sent me somersaulting through. But the hand left just as my rage become consuming, and I was suddenly left alone. Coldhearted reality slammed me down back to earth.

 

 _No, no…_ I swallowed weakly, throat tightening. _I can’t be—I’m more than that, I’m not just a dragon. What was I thinking?_ _I—I’m not…_

 

All I wanted to do was pass out again, if only to get away from the awful impulses and thoughts. Because I knew I was wrong, that I had changed, and probably would never be the same again. Viking Hiccup had left a long time ago, and even if he wanted to come back, this new one was going to block him—maybe to protect him.

 

The wagon bumped and finally reached land. I drifted away into nothingness.

 

* * *

As I came to for the third time strapped onto a wagon, I was more than a little annoyed. I mean, come on, how long were they planning on hauling me around like this? Seriously. But, mostly, I was frightened.

 

The throbbing in my head had subsided greatly; when I’d been managed to fall unconscious naturally, it must have helped it tons. While a great improvement, the rest of me still felt awful, especially with tight leather bindings digging into my scales. Was it me, or were there _more?_

 

My confusion was put to rest when I heard the unmistakable squeal of Gertrude, a young girl only a couple years old. We were being taken into the village. What that meant, I didn’t know, but I certainly didn’t want to think of any possibilities. Right now, I just wanted to try and get out of this awful, horrible mess.

 

Turns out, it’s really hard to concentrate when there’s a giant group of people crowding around you.

 

So many voices—too much to count—slapped at my ears, each expressing their excitement or concern. There was the same overall tone to each person’s two cents: “We got the two Night Furies, yay!”

 

Behind me, I heard a warning growl—Toothless! Happiness quickly turned to horror when the defiant rumbling turned to a pained squeal, followed by the condescending laughter of whoever had decided that approaching a wild Night Fury would be a good idea. I swiveled my ears to catch as much sound from that direction as possible. I’d never heard Toothless make _that_ sound before, even when an arrow had been shot through his wing!

 

A man whose voice I did not recognize laughed. “Here, let’s see if it likes _this_ seafood! Are ya hungry, dragon? Huh? Huh?” He gasped when Toothless bellowed in a mindless frenzy. “Woah! Don’t like eels, do ya?”

 

“Hey, put it in front of him,” a woman, young by the sound of her voice, said giddily. “Serves ‘em right for knocking down all our outposts every other night.”

 

I could practically feel the revulsion coming off of Toothless. My face wrinkled and my muscles tensed when he finally spoke, screeching muffled obscenities and prayers to his dragon gods for aid. He sounded like he’d been through Hel and back. The group harassing him laughed. They were _toying_ with him!

 

My outraged helped me finally muster up the courage to force my eyes open. The first thing I noticed was the Kill Ring looming not so far ahead. Wasting no time on admiring my surroundings, I struggled violently and hissed as loud as I could! The wagon rocked a little, but that was all I could manage; pain shot through me like dozens of arrows. I knew that all I was doing was worsening my injuries, but that didn’t seem too important. I had other things to worry about.

 

The group behind me fell silent, Toothless included. At the same time, those around me jumped back in surprise. The feeling of accomplishment at providing Toothless with some help washed away when every eye in the area settled one me. I cringed inwards, looking this way and that, suddenly feeling very small and puny in this massive ocean of well-built, muscular, armed people.

 

For a full minute, the only noises to be heard were the wagons’ squeaking, sloggy footsteps, heavy breathing, and (for me) my panicking heart. Gradually, voices began to rise, but they never reached their full capacity as they had earlier. Almost as if they were afraid. I heard one voice over the rest, though, demanding to be let through. I tried to raise my head. Was it really—?

 

Snotlout pushed his way to the front of the crowd. I raised my eyebrows upon seeing him and quickly looked away. Somehow, even after everything that happened, I still felt guilty. When I gathered the courage to look back up at him, his skin had turned a clammy white and he was holding a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

 

I just barely heard him say, “Hiccup?” Then the mob surged, and he was pushed back and away, sinking into the masses like a stone through water.

 

My wagon jolted violently as it began to descend a staircase. A shadow passed over me, and I looked up at my sure-to-be deathbed. I could already see people bustling about in the lookout area, waiting for _something_ to happen. I sucked in a deep breath and braced myself.

 

It didn’t help. The inside of the Kill Ring was terrifying.

 

I could smell fear—so much fear that it nearly overcame me. Weapon racks were set up neatly in four areas equal distances apart, and shields were scattered carelessly about. The stench of blood wafted over me, causing me to wrinkle my nose and gag. The most prominent feature of the Ring, though, were the dragons.

 

They were all inside their cages, but I knew they were there. Some of them spoke, but all I could hear was the ragged sound of their voices; the actual words were drowned by the crowd. The cages were the sources of the fear scents, and it only got stronger as the teams pushed us into the center of the Ring and closer to the trapped dragons. The balcony of the arena was full, and the people situated there gawked at the two Night Furies that had managed to elude them for a _full day._

 

Toothless’ wagon squeaked loudly as it was pulled up to be parallel with mine. We both exchanged wide-eyed looks. He looked more like a bundle of bindings and chains than a dragon. Even his _ears_ were tied down. I cringed, and was about to try to speak when a sudden, loud creaking completely threw me off. A heavy door, barricaded by four wooden rods and a lonely metal beam, was being opened. For just a split second I thought a dragon would come bursting out, but the inside of it was damp and empty. It took me a second, but then I remembered that this cage was a new addition to the Kill Ring, and as far as I knew, it had not been finished when Toothless had changed me. A quick glance at the pulley system used to push the rods confirmed my suspicions; this cage had been hastily completed for some reason. I could only imagine why.

 

I was rolled into it. Toothless wasn’t.

 

When I realized what was happening, I lost it. “ _Toothless!_ ” I yowled. The muzzle pushed down on my jaw fiercely. “Toothless, I—!”

 

The team of warriors who had been lugging my wagon around had had the good grace to face me towards the door, just so I could see the terror overcome my best friend’s face before they shut me into darkness. Distantly, I heard him howl, but he definitely wasn’t trying to tell me something. No—that was an involuntary squeal of pain that had managed to get through the heavy doors of my cage.

 

_Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom._

 

I dropped my head and _wept_. They were going to kill him! The last time I’d seen a crowd this big in the arena had been when the newest warrior apprentice had killed his first dragon!

 

Toothless didn’t stop. He wailed at the top of his lungs, and the Vikings responded in delight at his torture. I sobbed on his behalf. This wasn’t _fair!_ I know they felt justified, but it still wasn’t _fair!_

 

The crowd roared. Toothless quieted, and suddenly I felt like I was falling endlessly. Adrenaline I hadn’t even known was there washed away, leaving behind a pit of agony. I buried my face into my arms and squeezed my eyes shut. The dragons in the cages next to me shifted inside their prisons and attempted to speak to me, offering words of consolation. I didn’t respond.

 

I could have stayed in that position for hours. I don’t know for how long, but an immeasurable length of time passed. Eventually, the commotion outside drifted off, as if being carried away by the wind. I forced myself to not try to crawl over to the door and call out for my best friend. My _dead_ best friend.

 

The dullness of my cage was disturbed only when the door wobbled and four muffled bangs came from the other end of it. It creaked inwards inch by inch. Face still hidden in my legs, I blinked away the few stray tears that were left and looked up blearily, expecting a group of people with bloodied hands waiting to drag me out into the center ring for my turn.

 

Instead I was met with one person. The fading, sunset-orange light reflected off of his armor dimly. There wasn’t a drop of blood in sight; not on him, his sword(!), or the ground behind him. I strained my ears for Toothless’ voice as hard as I could, holding them straight up, but I could barely find a whimper. For all I knew, they’d taken him somewhere else to murder him. But nothing _major_ had happened in the center ring.

 

“So…” Dad’s voice was emotionless. He paused to stop the door so that it was half-shut, just so he could fit out in a hurry, and went on, “Now that your friend isn’t around…if you can really understand me…we need to talk.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a large sheet of paper and a bottle of ink. My jaw fell to the floor and I recoiled as far as I could.

 

Dad smacked down on a latch in the front of the wagon. Almost instantly, some of the bindings holding me tight let loose and fell limp to the floor. Still, my front and back legs were still held together by handcuffs (pawcuffs?) , and my wings were tied tightly to my sides by some rope. Oh, and there was that wonderful muzzle.

 

Even though it felt like I was cutting each muscle into little tiny squares, I stumbled out of the wagon and plopped down onto the floor, hissing in pain. The chain between my paws was barely a foot in length. I’m sure it was hilarious watching me try to regain my footing. Eventually I just settled on the cool stone of the cage’s floor, happy to be off of something that rolled and gave me splinters every time I moved. Speaking of wagons…

 

Once I got a good look at it, I couldn’t help but stare at it in disbelief. That was not a wagon, but something I’d called a “Miniature Moveable Kill Ring” for fun. I’d invented it to carry dragon prisoners wherever we wanted to without worrying about them breaking through nets with their fire or strength. The blueprints had obviously been ignored in some areas (such as the _wooden_ carrying cart and lack of metal bonds), but it was still _my_ invention!

 

This revelation stung a lot more than it should have. So, they only actually open themselves up to new options when I’m presumed _dead?_

 

The piece of parchment fluttering to the ground like a wounded bird in front of me, dragging my attention back over to Dad. He was frowning heavily, looking so desperate. He was also holding his sword. I scooted away from him, chains rattling in loud, high-pitches bursts. My teeth sheathed all by themselves and I crouched low to the ground, hunched over and glaring. It was all I could to do to just wrinkle my face and bite back a scathing snarl.

 

Dad paused for a second. “You did something, back there when we were capturing you.” The ink jar dropped to the floor and he kicked it towards me, where it rolled and settled next to my leg. “The Night Fury had me. I knew that it was going to rip my heart out. And then you—Gobber told me you…” he placed a hand on his forehead and shook it, shielding his eyes from me. “What am I doing? I’m talking to a dragon…”

 

I was nearly shaking with anger. He _knew_ that Toothless had willingly stopped? And he still killed him?! My spines bristled and my tail swung hard, hitting the wagon and making both of us jolt in surprise.

 

“…just, tell me what you did.” Dad took one step forward. He still looked deeply upset. “Don’t play stupid. I know you can understand me, if that incident in the forest a couple hours ago says anything.”

 

Why would he even _want_ to know what I did? All I’d done was beg Toothless to stop—well, of course he doesn’t know that. But what use would that be? Of all the things to ask me about, it was that incident? I wracked my brain until I finally realized why my father suddenly wanted to know more about me instead of just killing me.

 

I folded my paws neatly, raised my head, and looked him in the eye. _No._

 

The room felt like it was compressing on itself, like I was suddenly caved into a much smaller space than I’d just been in. Dad shifted for a second and pressed, “Well?” His open fist clenched at my lack of response. “So you’re not going to do anything,” he growled softly, leaning back, distraught. I just barely softened my icy glare at his expression.

 

We stared at each other again. It was so much worse than I’d ever imagined. My father was right _there_ , willing to listen to me, but I _couldn’t!_ He had killed my only friend, or at least played a huge part in his death! But no matter how hard I tried to hate him…I just…couldn’t. The absence of emotions I knew I should be feeling ate away at me; I imagined myself as a hollow shell of what I used to be.

 

Suddenly overcome, I ducked my head and looked away. _Don’t cry_ , I ordered myself.

 

“You know,” Dad’s voice was soft this time, “you realize I’m giving you a chance. I…I’m not—you’re my _son_ , or you _were_ my son.” He began to pace, a habit of his when he was dealing with inner turmoil. “And you can prove that you’re not just a dragon now! That Night Fury isn’t here to possess you or influence you anymore.”

 

I looked up in shock, but instead of hatred settled deep within his expression, it was desperation. “You can show that you’re still yourself,” he said, his apparent emotional high rising. “Please, if you’re really still Hiccup—“ Dad suddenly stopped, his breath catching. He squeezed his eyes shut and held a hand over them. A tense moment passed, and he was back to staring at me with that saddened face that he’d wielded since he’d come in here. “Please.”

 

I couldn’t hold eye contact anymore. I looked down at the ink, the parchment. What could I say? “Sorry”?

 

The ink splattered like blood. With the jar lying on its size, handle broken by a simple swipe, I had little ink to work with. But I wasn’t planning on saying much, if things went the way I thought they were going. My heart hammered when I saw the sword slice the air, but it simply clattered to the floor. Dad had crowded around me, much like Astrid and the others had when I’d began to write for them. It was much more intimidating.

 

_What did you do to Toothless?_

The worst response. Guilt stabbed at my heart, and I _hated_ it. I knew from Snotlout that my father had suffered just as much as I had, but he’d reacted the Viking way: kill the problem. I knew that I was now being cruel, borderline sadistic, but I felt like it was the only way I _could_ react! Every instinct I had was demanding that I run away or attack him, not stay in his immediate striking range. My body was just itching to move away or forward.

 

Dad squinted at my chickenscratch, almost as if he hoped it said something different. Then his eyes widened and he leaned back. “After all that…you’re worried about the dragon that tried to _kill you?_ ” Anger burst out of him like a tidal wave. “The thing that attacked so many people?!”

 

Narrowing my eyes, I patted the paper once. It creased around me paw and fell back to the ground. When he began to shake his head, I added on, _I need to know._

 

“Why?” Dad burst out. He pointed accusingly at me. “That creature has done nothing but torment the village! It has killed more people to count and you want to know how it is?! You know what—I was wrong, you’re not—“ he stopped, fuming, face turning pink and fists clenched. I cringed at the underlying meaning of his words, that he was slowly losing faith in my credibility. If he thought that I was ‘gone’, then he would kill me.

 

I had to survive. Toothless would have wanted me to.

 

A harsh reality came crashing in on me. What was left after this, if against all the odds I convinced Dad I was for real? Life in prison? Confined to the village forever? Surely the village wouldn’t accept me, the boy who sided with the Night Fury with open arms. I almost preferred death—at least, hopefully, I would be with Toothless.

 

 _No, don’t think like that_ , I chided myself. _That will lead you nowhere good. Focus on showing him that you’re not a traitor._

 

Luckily, my internal dispute was broken in half by my father speaking up again. “Why would you possibly even worry about that thing? It’s made you act like… _this._ ” He waved broadly at me. I smiled grimly. There was really only one answer to that, no matter how snarky and inappropriate it was.

_You just gestured to all of me._

 

Dad could do nothing but gape at the sentence that was so offensive, so sarcastic, so _me_ that it had nearly become my catchphrase. Ever so slowly, a plethora of emotions passed over him, from horror to fear to disbelief. The angry red had dispersed, replaced by a pale white. It contrasted stark with the outdoors, where the sun had near about set, washing the sky with purple twilight and pinpricks of stars.

 

I struggled to regain my footing once more. Legs shaking heavily, I just barely made it back to my normal eye-level, which was still not even close to my father’s chest. He slowly reached a hand out to me, fingers shaking like he was actually afraid. Even if he wasn’t, _I_ certainly was; I took a clumsy step back, away from the hand that may as well had landed the final blow onto my best friend. Dad paused and either did not get the hint or ignored it, since he just went on his merry way trying to reach out to me.

 

“Stop!” I gasped around the muzzle. It shook as I spoke, as if it was loosened. I was wrong about lying helpless in front of Dad being one of my worst experiences ever. Very, very wrong. Chained, wounded, unstable, and him advancing on me—it was scary, despite the fact that I knew he wasn’t being aggressive. That last bit didn’t seem to sink in, though; my heart began to pound, my muscles tensed, and I tried to make myself smaller. I couldn’t shake the feeling off that this _person_ , not my father, was trying to hurt me. Nearly soaking in sudden, unexplainable fear, I desperately grappled to get a handle on my emotions.

 

 _Stop it! You’re going to ruin it!_ My body wouldn’t obey. I opened my mouth as far as I could to speak louder, but it was no use. My whole being was overcome by terror, and it must have given me strength—the muzzle broke. Just at the same moment, Dad stepped a little too close into my comfort zone.

 

 _He’s going to attack me!!_ I snarled and lunged, teeth bared to their fullest! The impact of hitting chainmail hurt far worse than I expected, and it threw me off so much that when I hit the ground with him under me, I was dazed. My body ached, much more than it had before—had I been struck? A fleshy arm coming up to strike me was the answer I got, and I reared to try to get at it, but it was too fast! It hit me in the cheek harshly and I stumbled, yelping. His hands began to grip at my head, pushing at me, reaching for my neck!

 

I did the first thing that came to mind: I bit down.

 

He barely even shouted, but I still stopped dead in my tracks. No time was given for me to react before a tremendous force came up from under me and knocked me away. I fell to the ground, unable to breathe or respond. Something metal hit the side of my head.

 

The world became blurry and unclear around me. As I slowly came out of my animalistic panic, I groaned in confusion and pain. What had happened? I know that Dad had been too close and I’d gotten angry with him, and—

 

Dad.

 

He was standing close to the door, gripping a bleeding wound that ran down the entire length of his forearm. By his heavy breathing and wide eyes, I knew that he hadn’t expected the attack. To be honest, I didn’t know who was more surprised out of the two of us.

 

“No,” I moaned lowly, holding my paws to my face and shaking my head back and forth. “Oh, gods, no, no, no…”

 

My father wasn’t buying it. “You—you little _rat_ ,” he spat, “you actually had me going there. I can’t believe you—you—!” His hand clamped tightly around his newly-regained sword that he must have picked up sometime between…whatever the hell had happened just now. Gods, I didn’t even know! What had I _done?!_ What did I _do_ that?

 

I had been so close, and I’d just _wasted_ it! Dad would never believe me. He would never trust me again.

 

I couldn’t bear to listen to him, but I really had no choice. “You can consider yourself—and your friend—as good as gone.” I looked up at Dad with wide, watery eyes, trying to beg him to let me explain but finding no words. “It looks like you couldn’t hold up your little act. You’re no Viking after all. You’re not my son. And for stealing Hiccup’s mind and body, you will suffer.”

 

He said it so calmly, as if we were casually chatting over dinner. I could only blink in shock, mouth moving up and down wordlessly. Then my father turned and shut the door behind him, locking me in darkness. Four thunderous booms signified that all the locks had been pulled. There would be no escape, even if I wasn’t tied down to my wagon anymore.

 

I stumbled to my feet. “Dad! _Dad!_ ”

 

_You can consider yourself—and your friend—as good as gone._

And your friend. Toothless was still alive, holed up somewhere where we couldn’t communicate.

 

My legs collapsed out from under me. I didn’t try to hold back the tears and bawled like a baby, uncaring of the dragons or people nearby who might hear me. I had just gone and obliterated our only chance of survival! And all out of mindless terror! Why had I done that?! What was _wrong_ with me?!

 

Why couldn’t I do anything _right_ for once?!

 

We were going to die. And it was _all my fault._

Despite the complete uncertainty of my immediate future, there was one thing I knew absolutely. I was never going to forgive myself.


	10. Chapter 10

There was a dragon raid last night.

 

I was lying in my cage, fiddling with the binds on my paws half-heartedly, when the explosions began. I remember leaping to my feet and running to the cage door and listening to the sound of dragons swooping overhead and down to the village. I also remember not caring a single bit about the latter and crying out in vain for help, voice hoarse and cracking, more desperate than ever before. I eventually stopped when it became apparent that the dragons weren’t going to help either me or Toothless.

 

Then the other cages, all of them to my right, had been opened, and captured dragons had been pulled in and tied down. Or, at least, that’s what it sounded like. I could especially hear the dragons in first two cages over, and several new additions had been added at the end of the night. Several of them were frightened out of their minds. Some hadn’t uttered a sound since they’d been captured. The rest were putting up brave fronts.

 

It was downright _unusual._ From the huge commotions last night, I knew there were easily five dragons crammed into the cage directly adjacent to me. I couldn’t understand why; nobody had ever bothered to keep even two dragons in one cage. If there were ‘extras’ that had been captured, they’d just be killed. So why was my father gathering as many as he could?

 

I curled up, shivering. I didn’t want to know. I just wanted to get out of here. Maybe take a vacation from Berk…forever.

 

“ _Hey, you._ ”

 

I shifted a bit, scrunching my eyes even though I was engulfed in darkness. The wall next to my right suddenly rattled as something hit it. I jumped, letting out a tiny squeak of surprise.

 

“ _Hey! You!_ ”

 

I blinked, ears straight up. Was one of the dragons in there… _talking_ to me? I struggled to rise to my feet, wincing at the pain that pulsed throughout my body, and stumbled over to the edge of my cage. When I felt the cool stone of the wall, I settled down and rested my head against it. Pausing in uncertainty, I answered, “Yes?”

 

“ _Hah! I knew he was alive!_ ” The dragon on the other side bragged to someone. Much more loudly, they said, “ _Are you in there all by yourself?_ ”

 

I nodded, realized they couldn’t see me (Thor, _I_ couldn’t see me!), and blushed. “Y-yeah,” I confirmed. “How many of you are in there?”

 

“ _Well, there’s us, this Hum-Wing, that other Hum-Wing, a_ bunch _of Little-Biters—uh, how many of you are there? Hold still so I can smell you. Hold still._ Hold still! _Well, there’s a bunch of Little-Biters, and then there’s this Two-Walker here—_ “

 

“ _Shut up!_ ” Another dragon roared. Its voice was strikingly similar to the first one, but it was a little deeper. “ _Great gods, I’m sorry. My other self is so…never mind. There’s nine of us in here. Us, the two Hum-Wings, two Two-Walkers, and the rest are Little-Biters.”_

 

“ _I just told him that,_ ” the first voice grumbled, indignant.

                                                             

I…honestly did not know how to respond to that. A little because of the two dragons referring themselves as an ‘us’, but mostly because there were _nine dragons_ cooped up in that tiny cage! What the heck was going on?!

 

“ _Hey, are you there?_ ” The second dragon asked, concern laced in their voice. “ _Sorry if my other self scared you there. He’s just…well, he has spunk. Are you ill?_ ”

 

 _I wish that was my only problem_ , I thought glumly. “No”.

 

“ _Then why are you in there all alone?_ ” The spunky voice blurted, confused. “ _The humans have the other cages filled up to the very-very top. The one next to us is even fuller! I feel so bad for them. And us. I wish we could go home. The Queen needs us!”_ He wailed.

 

Woah, woah, hold up. “Wait,” I interrupted, “The Queen?”

 

A new dragon, her voice so high-pitched I knew she was a female, joined in. “ _Yes. S-she needs all o-of us here. We all…_ ” She drifted off and took a huge intake of air, as if trying to compose herself, “ _We all failed her and now_ half _the search party is captured._ ” She sniveled once. I very faintly heard the sound of metal chains clinking together. “ _Now none of us can even move a winglength…”_

 

“ _Well, the Little-Biters are crawling around!_ ” The spunky dragon chirped. He let out a very audible purr before yelping. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I rolled my eyes. At least the dragon was trying to be optimistic…right?

 

His counterpart snorted. “ _In a_ cage. _They’re just as bound as us._ ” To accentuate this, the chain-rattling suddenly became obnoxious and loud.

 

My brows furrowed. From what I could get, there were Gronckles, Nadders, Terrors, and a Zippleback in there. The Terrors were in their own small cage, but the others were…tied down? That was so _weird_ —but then again, it did make sense. Before, all the cages had one dragon, so when it was opened only one came out. I guess it would make sense to tie them all down so the unfortunate Viking opening the door wouldn’t get caught up in a stampede.

 

“ _Hey, I heard you moving around in there_ ,” the less-spunky dragon suddenly realized. “ _Are you tied down?_ ”

 

Grimacing, I said, “I was pulled in on a cart—uh, a rolling thing. But then I got out of it. My legs are tied together and my wings are, too.” As I said this I stretched my wings experimentally. The second I did, I was punished; the rope, tied far too tight, bit into the thin membranes and scales like a bear trap. Gasping, I clawed at the ground and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to will the pain away.

 

A new dragon, a male that sounded almost like a toad, entered the conversation with a cheerless laugh. “ _Might as well hold still, little one. Those humans know how to cause a dragon misery._ ” The others in the pen let out quiet murmurs of agreement.

 

My ears drooped, and I rested my head on my paws.

 

The four of us (well, five, if you count the Zippleback as two dragons) quieted. The female dragon before sniveled again and let loose a string of apologies for ‘being dishonorable’. I raised an ear in surprise at this.

 

The spunky half of the Zippleback empathized with me. “ _What? Don’t worry about that! The Queen would be proud of us for surviving! And fighting to the end! If anything, we’re  being_ honorable!”

 

 _The Queen_ , I repeated to myself. Before, I had just put it off as a slip of the tongue, a habit. Now, I knew I was wrong. _She still has control over them._

“ _By dying here, against the humans, we show that we’re still fighting back! And that’s what the Queen wants, right? To show them who’s boss?_ ”

 

_If she hadn’t had such a strong control over them, all of these dragons probably would have been able to get away._

“ _So I think that all of us should do our best to show the humans that the Queen is still their most powerful enemy, and our greatest ally! And to show them that we’ll win!_ ”

 

My teeth ground together and my face scrunched up in anger. _She’s still keeping them in her grips just because she can. She knows these dragons are going to die, and she’s making sure they don’t have an ounce of freedom when they do._

“ _I…I…I don’t know what I was thinking. You’re right. Th-thank you._ ”

 

“ _Of course! Anything to help another dragon in need._ ”

 

In an act of sudden, raw fury, I slapped a paw down on the ground. Hard. It hurt, but it wasn’t enough to make me double over. It was because of that _damn Queen_ that all of this was happening. If it weren’t for her control over these dragons, then there never would _be_ a war in the first place. I’d seen firsthand what a dragon broken free of the spell was—and, yes, Toothless was very… _hateful_ is the word, I guess, and still is, but he learned to trust and form a true friendship with me. I had no doubt any other dragon could do that with a human, even a Viking, if both sides were just given a chance. And if the dragons weren’t turned to slaves.

 

I was so frustrated, so _hurt_ , that I just wanted to _attack_ something. I wanted to shoot fire in every direction I could. I wanted to take it out on the people who had done this to Toothless and I. I wanted to _kill!_

 

Before my rage could boil over and consume me, as it had done on the bridge, it was whisked away by a simple question from the cage over: “ _Little one, are you alright?_ ”

 

My vehemence deflated in a very similar fashion as I did. I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped my head, squeezing my claws into it. “Yes,” I lied.

 

Why now? Why did, out of the blue, all of these dragon instincts come up? Why was I grouping myself with the dragons over the Vikings, why had I been so distrustful of my father when he’d given me a chance, why was I acting less than a human than ever before, _why?_ Had I always been this way and was just now seeing it now that I was around people again? Or was I losing myself?

 

I didn’t know which one I feared more. Or if I disliked it as much as I told myself I did.

 

I just wanted to be with Toothless. He would know what to say to me. He would be able to help.

 

My ears shot straight up and I jerked upright. _Wait a second—ugh, why didn’t I think of this before? Stupid!_ Raising my voice, I called, “Hey!”

 

The less-spunky Zippleback answered almost immediately. “ _Oh, there you are. What is it?_ ”

 

“Do you know if there’s another Night Fu—I mean, Shadow-Blender anywhere?” I asked, getting to my feet. My heart began to hammer.

 

The dragon gave a surprised snort. “ _Another? You’re not saying—are_ you _a Shadow-Blender?_ ”

 

I sat up, slightly annoyed that he’d completely ignored my question. “Yes,” I said, “and do you know if one is anywhere near here?” Pressing my head to the wall, I prayed that the Zippleback or the other dragons in the cage would know.

 

 _“Wow! Another Shadow-Blender! We haven’t seen one since the black one was fallen. I heard rumors that he found a brown one. Are you brown? Or are you black? Grey? Blue? Red? Where are you from?_ ” The spunky half of the Zippleback exploded. I could practically hear him bouncing around in excitement. Despite having been ignored _again_ , I let out a loose chuckle. This dragon was far too hyper to be taken seriously. “ _Where’d you—_ ack! _Alright, sorry!_ ”

 

“ _I was not aware of any other Shadow-Blenders who lived around here…did we accidentally intrude on your territory?_ ” The female dragon gasped in horror. “ _Oh, I am so sorry! The Queen never informed us of you._ ”

 

I reared my head back at this. At my quick reassurances that no, I didn’t have my territory around here, the dragoness relaxed. I remained uneasy. This female especially seemed to idolize ‘the Queen’. It almost seemed like her every thought branched off of a central desire to serve her. The other dragons weren’t exactly helping, either.

 

How strong _was_ this dragon? Toothless was wary on the details. He’d almost been afraid to tell me, it seemed.

 

“ _I’ll ask the other dragons if they’ve seen one,_ ” the calmer Zippleback told me. He raised his voice and bellowed, “ _Hey! All of you! Do you know if there is a Shadow-Blender over there?_ ”

 

A faint, meek “ _No?_ ”, sounding so tiny that I could have easily imagined it, drifted its way into my cage. I slumped to the ground, heavyhearted. I _knew_ that I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. Even if my father had told me that Toothless was alive when we’d talked, that didn’t mean that he was still breathing _now._ It was stupid of me to believe that everything would work out all fine and dandy.

 

“ _Oh! Wow!_ ” The Zippleback exclaimed. “ _Yes. No. He seems a lot younger, actually. I know! Oh, he’s not bound, by the way. Huh? Really?”_

 

The toad-like dragon, which I was just going to assume was a Gronckle, hummed hesitantly. “ _I don’t know about this. Are you sure that he’s_ our _Shadow-Blender?_ ”

 

My eyes flew open wider than they’d ever been before. I scrambled to my feet and reared on my legs, pounding my paws against the walls so hard, the dragoness on the other end yelped. “Wait, what?! What are they telling you?! Is he there?” My body chose this exact moment to send a rather inconvenient wave of pain that started at my midsection and spiraled out, forcing me to the ground. I shook my head, gritting my teeth in anxiety, and pushed my right side into the wall to hear the dragons as well as I could.

 

“ _Oh! Sorry!_ ” The meek female was quick to apologize. “ _Yes. He’s in the furthest cage from here, four cages over. The dragons next to us are saying that he says that he’s ill._ ”

 

“Oh, no,” I whispered. I took a second to gulp down a sudden knot in my throat and said, “How sick?” My voice cracked as I spoke.

 

It finally seemed to dawn on her that Toothless and I were more than acquaintances. “Oh _, you poor thing. Are you his brother? I-I’ll ask more about him for you.”_ Her voice grew fainter as she leaned towards the opposite wall, requesting more information. In the short wait that followed, I dug my claws into the wall in worry and fear. How could Toothless have possibly gotten sick that fast?

 

My mind’s eye flashed to when we were in the cave, and a greenish-yellow scar had formed over his battle wound. He’d winced at it and quickly changed the subject. But that had not stopped me from noticing a sickly, acidic smell coming off of it. I had assumed it was the smell of blood, not _infection._

 

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest when the dragoness answered my question. “ _I-I…I don’t know how to say this to you. The Shadow-Blender is awake, but weak. He told the dragons in the cage next to him to tell you that he’s sorry, and that he does not believe that he’ll survive…_ ” She trailed off. “ _I’m sorry, Shadow-Blender. These things happen._ ”

 

I slowly let my paws fall back to the ground and sat back. “Wha…” I cleared my throat and took a moment to regain myself, squeezing my eyes shut. “Tell him that it isn’t his fault, and to just try to hold on. Tell him Hiccup says that we can find a way out of this.” My wings twitched as I spoke, irritating the wounds and causing a shift in the rope.

 

“ _Hiccup? Huh?_ ” The excitable Zippleback questioned. He abruptly turned agitated, his voice accusatory. “ _You’re not talking about_ yourself _, right?_ ”

 

I ignored him, too intent on listening to the dragon as she passed my message on, word-for-word. I could just barely hear a dragon in the next cage over repeat her, but then it became a lost whisper in a storm, impossible to hear. A moment of silence followed—it almost seemed like every dragon was in on our conversation, but I would never know—and then the response was told to the dragoness, which she quickly relayed.

 

“ _He says that you shouldn’t get your hopes up, because, as you know, no dragon has escaped from here before. He says that he’ll try his best to hold on for you—_ oh!”

 

My entire body jolted as a tremendous _CLANG!_ rang throughout the stone walls of the Kill Ring. Vibrations scattered like tiny earthquakes beneath me, and for a moment, I feared that the entire foundations beneath us would fall apart, sending us falling to our doom. But the noise faded and the tremors subsided, leaving nothing behind but a vast emptiness.

 

“What was that?” I whispered, turning my head towards the source of the sound. My mind helpfully sprang up with a cornucopia of bad theories—most of them ending in a horrible outcome for myself and Toothless—that I was all too eager to brush aside. Frozen on the spot, it only occurred to me that a cage had been opened after a similar boom signified its closing.

 

“ _What’s going on over there?_ ” The Gronckle demanded. The chain-rattling picked up at high speeds, and I heard several other fearful squeaks and whistles—the Terrors? The other dragons?—drift into my cage. Bristling, I struggled to my feet and limped over to the corner, as far away from the door as I could get.

 

The doors of the cages were opened three more times, each pair getting louder and louder. Dread began to seep into my core, reducing me to a huddling, shivering pile of scales backing itself into the corner. What were the Vikings on the outside doing?! They certainly weren’t just checking up on the dragons to see how their days were going! The dragons in the cage next to me were in the same boat, growing more and more anxious and panicky up to the point that, when their cage opened, the dragoness let loose a heart-stopping scream.

 

Getting air in and out of my lungs became much more difficult. I tried to listen to what was going on in the cage next to mine, but it was _dead silent._ Even though it didn’t help, I closed my eyes to concentrate fully on my hearing, hoping that maybe the Vikings in there were just being really, really quiet. I just barely managed to pick up a couple voices, and the sounds of metal clinking on metal, and then even those faded. The cage was closed, and everything inside mine rattled.

 

I waited for mine to open. It would be any second now. I began to breath much more quickly, my teeth sheathed, and, for some reason, I tried to open my wings _again—_ even though I knew it would hurt just as much as the last time. Which it did. _Ugh, I have to stop_ doing _that!_

 

Seconds turned into minutes. I finally began to realize that my cage was being ignored—it would have never taken this long to open the door, even if the pulley system somehow broke—and forced myself to my feet with a small groan. Creeping along the side of my cage, I tip-toed my way to the opposite end until my nose brushed against the steel entrance to my cozy little room. I hesitated, and then pushed the side of my head against the door.

 

“ _…all ready to go_ ,” a woman was concluding. By the loudness of her voice, I could tell that she was standing almost directly in front of my cage. “ _I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem getting them out. Besides, after each round there’s going to be a pause for the winners to be regrouped and prepared, which is when we’ll do it._ ”

 

I frowned, eyebrows caving in. _What?_

 

Dad answered, “ _Good. We just have to make sure that we have several people go in at once, especially with the bigger ones. Don’t want anyone getting bitten._ ”

 

I nearly ran back to the end of my cage.

 

“ _I doubt that’ll happen_ ,” the woman laughed. “ _The devils are scared senseless. You saw how only a few of them tried to fight back._ ” Dad made a gruff ‘ _humph_ ’ of acknowledgement, and they gradually grew quieter and quieter until I could hear them no longer. They had left the Ring.

 

He had gone to every cage except mine. _Every_ single one…but mine. I slumped, a confused, hurt warble rising from the back of my throat. What the heck was going on?

 

Sheathing my teeth halfway, I let out a long, desolate sigh. Right now, I couldn’t _afford_ to wallow in self-pity. I needed to figure out what Dad was doing. Turning to my right, I shouted, “Hey, what happened in there?”

 

“ _Oh, it was horrible!_ ” The dragoness cried. “ _They came in with their claws unsheathed and tightened all of the binds!_ ” She grew wary, and added, “ _And they left this weird wooden thing in here._ ”

 

“ _That would be our dinner_ ,” the serious Zippleback drolled. He sounded disgusted.

 

They were being fed?

 

“ _It was very unusual,_ ” the Gronckle said, cutting into a thousand questions that ran through my mind. “ _I do not know much human-tongue. But I could have sworn on the gods that I heard them say something about a game._ ”

 

 _A game?_ I repeated to myself. What, were they going to let all of us out in the Ring and play ring-around-the-rosy? The dragon probably misheard them.

 

The spunky Zippleback somehow tuned into my doubt. “ _Hey, I heard them say that, too! But I wasn’t really paying attention…what do you guys think?_ ” He asked the dragons in the cage across. I heard a muffled reply, but couldn’t make out any words besides “fight” and “later”. Oh, great. Maybe it was _ultimate_ ring-around-the-rosy? “ _…oh. Well, maybe they’ve…changed their minds? That sure would be nice._ ”

 

I sighed. “I _really_ doubt that’s going to happen.”

 

* * *

 

_Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom._

 

My eyes flew open. I jolted, raising my head, every ounce of sleep that had been soothing my body washing away as quickly as a stone in an ocean. At first, nothing happened, and I wondered if I had just imagined the sounds. But then a bright line of light pierced the cage and ate away at the darkness, sending my hopes crashing. Completely blinded by the sunrays, I was caught between cowering on the ground and running to the back. I chose the latter.

 

The heavy double-doors swung out and, just like last time, were halted at roughly the length of a person. A _skinny_ person. I squinted, struggling to see who was in the doorway.

 

They walked in, a charcoal-colored silhouette, and stopped a few feet in the doorway. I reared my head back in alarm when I realized what was in their hands. Or, for that matter, what _wasn’t_ in their hands. This person was unarmed.

 

This revelation _finally_ got me to actually try and look them in the eye. I had somewhat adjusted to the sudden brightness(I still could see colorful little spots), but well enough to recognize the person standing before me. It was Gorge, Tuffnut and Ruffnut’s father. What was he doing here?

 

For some reason, he seemed as surprised as I was. He stood very still in the doorway, his stare unwavering. I looked away. For whatever reason, Gorge was satisfied with this, and let out a little laugh. “I must admit,” he chuckled, shifting something big and round on his shoulder, “I was expecting you to be tied up like the others.”

 

I grimaced, but didn’t react otherwise. What was he holding? More importantly, _why_ was he here? Crouched against the wall, I leaned with my head low to the ground, trying my best to look smaller and less threatening. The last thing I needed was another ‘Dad’ incident to happen…

 

Gorge gave me a grim smile. “I know,” he murmured, “about what happened last night. But…,” he swung the round thing over his shoulder to carry it with both arms and took several steps forward.

 

My teeth unsheathed, my ears flattened, my eyes narrowed, and I _snarled._ Gorge halted, eyes widening for a second before he regained his composure. I was less graceful in hiding my own surprise. I cut my growl off with a bewildered, embarrassing squeak, and set my eyes on the ground so fast my head spun. I was so _mad_ at myself, but also at _Gorge_ , and I didn’t even know why! But I didn’t want him to get any closer! I hadn’t meant to react so _violently_. It had been an impulse.

 

Gorge laughed. My shame washed away and I glared at him, my nose wrinkling and lips inching just above my teeth. He shook his head, growing serious, and calmed himself down.

 

“My apologies. I suppose you have fair reason to be so angry.” He smiled reassuringly, the same kind that I had seen on _Toothless_ , of all people. “I won’t get any closer, if that’s what you wish.” He stopped and waited. I gave a hesitant nod and loosened my stance some, standing as I normally would. “Alright. Here is some food for you,” he said, dropping the round thing—a basket, I realized (and felt very stupid afterwards)—on the ground unceremoniously and kicking it on its side.

 

The basket opened, revealing that about a fourth of it was filled with fish. I was so surprised that I took a step back. Even though I knew the dragons were fed on a regular basis, I wasn’t actually expecting for anyone to care enough about _me._ Dad had said we would ‘suffer’…I sort-of assumed that starvation would be part of the package.

 

Leaning forward, I sniffed at a cod that had rolled closest to me. It was slightly stale, but edible. Before I could blink, it was already halfway down my throat.

 

I licked my teeth hungrily, scanning the ground for any other fish that had happened to fall closer. Bitter disappointment was all I got when I realized that most of them were still firmly _inside_ the basket, which Gorge was slouching right next to. I stared hungrily at them, ears and eyelids drooping. Even though Toothless and I had shared that basket of fish, it wasn’t very substantial for even _one_ dragon. I had regained most of my energy back, but had still pined for more food. So had Toothless, but he’d just shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

 

The elder Thorston studied me for a moment and backed off, moving all the way to one of the doors and leaning on it. It groaned and inched out, allowing me a glimpse of a clear, turquoise sky. I paid it no mind; my entire body screamed “ _FOOD!_ ”. I lunged at the basket and shoved my head into it, gulping down the fish like a hungry, well, dragon. I was _so_ hungry, more than even _I_ knew!

 

It took me less than a minute to ravage my meager food supply. Sighing, I lifted my head up, carrying the basket with me, and flicked it to the side to dislodge it. The weave _whump_ ed against the floor, spraying a fish-scented gust of air at me. My stomach rumbled.

 

I turned to Gorge, a little surprised that he was still here. He was just leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed casually, watching me. He wasn’t worried or angry or even cautious. He was just…there. “Um…,” I met his eyes and then looked away awkwardly. “Thanks?”

 

Gorge pushed himself off the door and let his arms drop. “If you’re thanking me, then no problem.” His voice was grave, causing me to turn to him in confusion, head tipped to the side. The warrior rubbed a hand over his face and then exhaled loudly. “But there’s a reason why I’m still here.  Did you hear all the cages being opened earlier?”

 

He had my attention in an instant. My ears shot up on instinct and I leaned forward, nodding. Finally, an explanation! Though, knowing my luck, it was probably going to _suck._

 

“And you know that there was a dragon raid, yes?” At my confirmation, Gorge sighed. “Last night was the first raid in generations where there wasn’t a Night Fury in it. One of the main reasons the Chief had captured you and the Night Fury instead of killing you was to see if we could find a way to get rid of the others. But,” he gestured openly with his palms, “many of the villagers are…unconvinced. Several people have misinterpreted this as an excuse to keep you alive. With so many challengers, the Chief didn’t really have a choice…”

 

My brows knitted and my stomach dropped. This was going to be bad. Very, very bad.

 

Gorge continued, “The village as a whole has decided that there will be a competition. It will test the best warriors in their skills in killing dragons, and the winner is the one who kills both Night Furies. All of the dragons are in this—even the ones we’d normally keep for training. You will be the last one released…that’s the reason the Chief _says_ you’re alone, so we don’t have to risk being snapped at by you.”

 

I stared at him openmouthed. Then I sat down.

 

“I wanted you to know. Even if you have sided with the dragons, you still deserve to know what’s going to happen to you.”

 

I grabbed my head, claws digging into my forehead. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Gorge and settled for blindly watching the door.

 

He carefully stepped over to the basket and lifted it, pausing for a second before turning and leaving through the door. Just as he doors began to close, he turned around, his features impossible to see. “I’m sorry, Hiccup.”

 

The door closed.

 

_Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom._

 

* * *

 

The Flame-Skin was ablaze, casting dark, wild shadows throughout the cavern. He snarled in frustration and roared when his binds failed to set fire, flailing to and fro and chafing his scales. His outburst began to lose its passion, though, and he eventually settled down again, the flames flickering and winking out. His tail whipped, and I heard it come dangerously close to my face, followed by a small gust of wind.

 

I shifted a little on my rolling-cage, pushing my cheek off of its ‘floor’ and onto my paw. Even this slight shift in posture sent waves of nausea rolling through my insides. I shut my eyes, concentrating hard on just breathing. Which was hard, considering that the Flame-Skin and I also shared a space with two Two-Walkers. It provided for some very cramped, very awkward situations. Currently, one Two-Walker was resting her head on the base of my tail, having no other place to put it, she’d been tied down so tightly. The other was to my right, trying his best not to jostle me, and the Flame-Skin was parallel with me, his head close to my tail.

 

The other Two-Walker moaned. Guilt enclosed itself around me, a new, familiar sensation. It was my fault that Hiccup and I had been pulled into this catastrophe. I had been too focused on fighting and not running. If I had followed Hiccup’s lead, we would have been able to escape. If we had succeeded, then I highly doubted that so many dragons would have been captured. Somehow, I just knew that we were directly responsible.

 

The Queen may have control over the dragons, but that didn’t mean I had stopped caring for them.

 

I yelped when the Two-Walker lying on me twitched, her crest pricking the wound. She gave a gruff, diluted apology. “It’s alright,” I hissed, unconsciously trying to pull my wing over the cut. I didn’t even have to look at it to know it had become infected; the whole cage reeked of it. Judging by how wet my hind paws felt, it hadn’t stopped bleeding, either. Or, worse: it was discharging _other_ body fluids.

 

I was dying.

 

Four distant thunders echoed into our confines, four sounds that signaled Hiccup’s cage being closed. It had been opened awhile ago, most likely to give him food (we had been fed as well, with one mere container of fish for four whole dragons. I had turned down most of mine, though; the smell made me feel worse.). Worry weighed me down, making me feel as if I was going to go crashing through the floor. Had he been attacked in there? Was he injured? He had said that he would find a way out, but I knew him too well; he had been trying to be hopelessly optimistic.

 

Nobody said anything. No word from the dragons the cage over.

 

Then the howling began.

 

I twitched, trying to face myself towards the wall. The female Two-Walker jumped and clucked in apprehension. The screams became louder and louder until, finally, they reached the cage over. Eyes wide, I raised my head, despite the nausea that hit me like a hurricane. “What’s going on?” I rasped, alarmed, spikes bristling. The material that had been strung around my mouth constricted tightly. I leaned my head down and extended my claws, scratching at it. It loosened, but didn’t fall off.

 

When we got no answer, the Flame-Skin growled. “ _Hey!_ ” He slapped his tail against the stones. “What, in the name of the Dragon of the Sun, is _wrong_ with you?”

 

“ _We’re doomed! We’re going to die!_ ” One of the numerous Little-Biters in the cage yowled.

 

“Yes, that explains everything,” I deadpanned, still scraping at the bind. For the most part, I had ignored it—there hadn’t been much conversation going around—but now I wanted it _off._ With one final yank that sent my head spinning, I tore it off and cast it aside, wanting nothing more to do with it.

 

Brilliant flames flared to life as the Flame-Skin grew agitated once more. He pulled tightly against the chains tethering his paws to the ground, but to no avail. “Answer me!” He shrieked. “Right now!” He whipped his tail again, this time whacking me in the nose.

 

At first, I waited for an apology; he _had_ hit me. When there was none, I narrowed my eyes and snapped at his tail as it made its return, closing my teeth _right_ next to him. “Watch it!”

 

He turned deep yellow eyes on me, baring his teeth. “I can do what I damn _please!_ Don’t try to order _me_ around, Shadow-Blender. You are not the Queen.”

 

The male Two-Walker flapped his wings the best he could without straining them on his ropes. “Would both of you _be quiet!_ ”

 

We (grudgingly) obliged. I let my head drop against my rolling-cage, ears drooping. The sounds of panic continued besides us, but still no dragon had offered explanation. Exhaustion was beginning to take over me, sending me into sleep, when a new voice finally made its way through the thick walls of our enclosure.

 

“ _The other Shadow-Blender was spoken to by one of the humans!_ ” The dragon gasped. “ _He says that the humans are going to hold a competition where they kill us all one-by-one!_ ”

 

The Hum-Wing sharing space with the first dragon wailed, “ _We’re all going to_ die! _I don’t want to die!_ ”

 

My claws and teeth fully extended, eyes widening. Oh, no.

 

“Those monsters,” I breathed. For once, all of the dragons present agreed.

 

I am proud to say that none of us fell to mindless terror like the others had. But that left a thick, serious void, the knowledge that the end was near too suffocating, too crushing. I found myself struggling to breathe and unable to fall asleep, as I had been about to before the bad news came in. The pain exploding from all around my body stayed at the forefront of my mind, and it only strengthened as I remained as unmoving as a mountain.

 

The male Two-Walker stomped his foot on the ground hard enough to make my rolling-cage vibrate. “This isn’t _fair!_ ” He croaked. “We were just doing our duties to the Queen!”

 

“Look where that landed us,” The Flame-Skin snorted. I nodded, even though nobody could see it.

 

 The female Two-Walker was not deterred, running on a desperate last hope. “We need to somehow warn Her,” she worried, “or this will happen again. I do not want our kind to perish because we keep sending out dragons to find the ‘lost ones’.” She rested her head on the top of my wings, and after a moment, I realized that I could feel _wrinkles_ on her. She was an elder dragon, magically supreme and wise, and she had _still_ been caught. My heart began to pound. As much as I hated to admit it, the Queen _did_ need to know; the idiot would just send scouting party after scouting party until our tribe ran out of dragons.

 

“Shadow-Blender,” the female said, “you and the other one have to escape. You two are the only dragons who have a chance of making it out of here.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, sure. We’ll just walk out.”

 

I was immediately scolded with a sharp nip to my rump. I yipped and felt my face heat up in embarrassment. She was treating me like a _hatchling!_ “Stop that!” The Two-Walker asserted. “Even as injured as you are, Shadow-Blenders have the strongest fire and the fastest flight. If we somehow get you two out at the same time…”

 

A loud, sarcastic laugh erupted from the Flame-Skin. “He is no more deserving of escape than we are. It _is_ his fault that this happened. You weren’t there to knock down the towers. We were all in plain sight.”

 

I flinched. His words stung because, chances are, he was _right._ Dragons work best unseen. “Well, I’m sorry I lost a tailfin,” I blurted the first thing that came to mind, voice defensive.

 

“You should be,” the Flame-Skin seethed. “If you hadn’t, then—!”

 

“Both of you, hush!” The female Two-Walker ordered. “Or, I swear by the gods, I will send spines into _both_ of you!” She extended the spikes on her tail, letting the audible _click click click_ s resonate throughout the cage. I huffed, turning my head away from the Flame-Skin. From the sounds coming from him, he’d done the same exact thing.

 

After an uncomfortable silence, I said, “It’s no point. I can’t fly anyways. And even if I somehow could, I wouldn’t have the energy to.” I fanned my single rudder to emphasize this.

 

The male in front of us perked up. “Wait, but aren’t you a healer?” He asked the dragoness behind me.

 

My ears stood straight up. _No, he can’t be serious._

 

She chuckled. “Yes, little one. I was about to mention that. But I can’t heal this wound on his side with my magic alone. I’ll need your help.”

 

“W-What?!” The male yelped. He tapped the ground nervously with his feet. “But I don’t know how to.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts, and drew in a deep breath. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t try!” He declared with (very) false bravado. As he spoke, the confidence seemed to leak away, leaving behind nothing but insecurity and fear.

 

I gaped. They were going to try to heal me? Doing so would be a death sentence for the both of them. Without their magic to aid them in battle, they would die a far quicker death, abandoning any hope of their own escape. It was suicide. “No! You—“

 

“Respect your elder, Shadow-Blender,” the female interrupted me. “I’ve made my decision for the good of the whole tribe and the Queen, not just for you. You _must_ make it out of here. You are our only chance.” She leaned over my side and sniffed, observing my injury in the best way she could. “…This will take a considerable amount of magic. Let me think for a moment.”

 

“Wait, what do I do?!” The male Two-Walker asked. “How do I do it?”

 

I shook my head. “I don’t think you should do anything. Neither of you should!”

 

The Flame-Skin agreed.

 

Flapping his wings in agitation, the young dragon said, “No! She’s right! You _need_ to tell the Queen! And she can’t do it all by herself!” When the Flame-Skin made a very obscene remark, he stomped his foot. “Oh, you be quiet! I don’t see you helping any! Well, hear you, but that’s not the point.”

 

I was opening my mouth to speak when a dragon in the cage over addressed us. “ _I’m sorry to interrupt, but the other Shadow-Blender wants to know how the one in there is doing._ ”

 

“We’re going to heal him with magic!” The male boomed with pride, puffing his chest out and accidentally hitting me in the nose. I groaned and hung my head. The dragon was obviously young— _too_ young. He didn’t deserve to be here. He didn’t fully understand what was happening.

 

There was a surprised uptake from the others at this news. They passed the message on, and I heard the reactions of the dragons in the cage next to them, but then the rest was lost on me.

 

Somehow, I _did_ manage to hear one dragon faintly shout, “ _We_ have _to save the other Shadow-Blender, too!_ ”

 

“ _Yes, you’re right!_ ” The Hum-Wing besides us agreed. “ _How, though?_ _He’s all alone. How can we get him out of his cage before it’s too late?_ ”

 

I had been about to try and convince the Two-Walkers to just leave me be—and stopped dead. Dragons aren’t known to be the most selfless creatures. While the Queen’s control over the tribe was strong enough to force dragons to put her before themselves, as the elder Two-Walker was doing, it _never_ drove them to be this generous. It was fairly uncommon, unless family or dear friends were involved. But the spell had grown so strong lately, even those had been pushed aside. Why the gratitude, especially for a stranger? These dragons had no ties with Hiccup.

 

I voiced my concern. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but _why_ do you want to help the other Shadow-Blender?” I asked the other dragons in general. The ones next to us sent my question over, and there was a short pause.

 

“ _A dragoness in the other cage says that she thinks that you two are far different from us and that…she thinks…you can change things for the better?_ ” The Hum-Wing ended the message as a question, most likely repeating what the dragoness had been saying as she spoke.

 

The rolling-cage jolted as I pushed myself up, eyes wide. _What?!_ I thought. _That dragoness—I need to speak with her—I need to ask her—!_

“Enough of this,” the elder dragon said, though she sounded just as confused as the Hum-Wing. “We need to work on fixing you before it gets any worse. Alright, young one, just follow my lead. Make sure you make physical contact with him and don’t put too much energy into it.”

 

I flattened myself onto the rolling-cage, and the sudden movement sent me heaving. “W-wait—“ I began, but never got a chance to finish.

 

 _Fire._ Fire ravaged through my veins, my muscles, my bones! It ate ruthlessly at the seams of my every fiber, clawing its way into my heart and ripping it to shreds! It even reached my eyes, and colorful flames darted in and out of my vision, swirling and dancing intricately. I _screamed_. They were doing it wrong! They had to be! There was no way this could have been helping me! If anything, they were speeding up the process!

 

I seized, my limbs locking up and shaking violently. A strangled squeal escaped my throat. The two contact points felt like the bottom of a volcano, superheated stone pushed through my body and pinning me to the floor, a thousand parasites crawling through my body and eating me alive! I was going to _disintegrate!_

 

It lasted far too long.

 

Gradually, _too_ gradually, the fire began to ebb away as it had done on the Flame-Skin. My ears felt dulled, a high-pitched ‘ _skreee_ ’ constantly drowning out everything around me. Even so, a soft, soothing voice spoke above me, and although I could not understand it, I did find comfort in it.

 

I was on my side, heaving, when I finally came to. I had thrashed about so much that the binds around me had loosened, or, in some cases, snapped. I heard a similar gasping for air above me.

 

“There,” the female Two-Walker said, voice shaky. “It’s gone. Your fever is another story, but the wound…,” she took a deep breath, “will not be the death of you.” I could almost hear her smile when she said, “Now we just need to find a way to help your tail. I’m afraid I’m too short on magic, though.”

 

I closed my eyes. The illness had not left my body, but even now, I could feel its grip loosening with its ally defeated. “T-thank you,” I exhaled. “I know what it means for you. For both of you.”

 

The male Two-Walker let his head fall down next to mine. He rubbed his cheek against my forehead for a moment before letting it drop like a stone onto the rolling-cage. “You just have to escape. With the other Shadow-Blender, too.” I nodded, and he let out a relieved, naïve sigh. I closed my eyes, wishing with all my heart that this young almost-hatchling, this dragon that was so similar to Hiccup in innocence, was not here. He seemed to be just old enough to have left the nest. Here he was, about to die. Giving up any chance he head for a dragon who had failed him.

 

Exhaustion crept over me like a thick fog, and this time I did not fight it. “Thank you,” I repeated myself again. “Thank you, so much…”

 

* * *

I woke up to the most confusing conversation _ever._

 

“No! That’s stupid! Then they’d be _all_ over him, and that would be _awful_ ,” the young Two-Walker rejected. “Say bye-bye to, uh, living. And stuff.”

 

The Flame-Skin gave an exaggerated groan. “’And stuff’? Your vocabulary is astonishing. But I digress—it is _not_ a stupid plan. If anything, _he’d_ be on top of _them._ ”

 

 _I’m confused_ , I decided.

 

“Flame-Skin, I think you’ve set yourself on fire one too many times. You obviously just want him to get hurt with that plan,” was the irritated response.

 

The cage sprung to life as the aforementioned dragon…set himself on fire. Again. “My plan is _reasonable_ and far better than your ‘blow everything up’ one!” He roared. “I am _choosing_ to help you. I could have just stayed silent and let your stupidity be the end of you.”

 

“I am quite fond of the ‘blow everyone up’ plan,” the elder joked. The flames brightened, and the Flame-Skin gave her a hurt, shocked look, as if she’d spined him.

 

“This is _no time_ to be funny!” He shouted. She only laughed, causing him further distress. “How can you even be saying that right now?”

 

Chuckling, the blue dragoness said, “Don’t waste away the time you have left in anger.”

 

“I wouldn’t, if he wasn’t so _stupid_.”

 

The almost-hatchling drooped. “I really thought it was a good idea,” he mumbled.

 

I grinned. “Not quite.”

 

While I don’t usually find amusement in another dragon’s fear, this particular reaction was an exception. Watching the dragon that had been standing _right_ in front of me in a _lighted_ area suddenly realize that I was, oh, well, _awake_ , was hilarious. The Two-Walker screamed his spines off, making him look like he’d shrunk and the horns adorning his body had overgrown. I was trying so hard not to laugh, I began to shake.

 

“Great Dragoness of the Moon!” He gasped. “Don’t—don’t _do_ that!” He couldn’t seem to hold in his amusement all the way though, and looked away when he began to smile.

 

The Flame-Skin huffed, his tail flicking. By this time, the fire had all but burned out. “Oh. You’re awake. Took you long enough.”

 

Frowning, I pushed aside the immediate anger that threatened to take me over and asked, “How long was I out?” Judging by how well-rested I felt, it had been awhile. The usual pain throughout my body had been trickled down from a dull pounding to short, sharp bursts (varying on how far away from the wound that was once in my side the injury was), and I still felt heavy, as if I were struggling to walk through mud. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that I still wasn’t out of trouble just yet, medical-wise.

 

The male’s silhouette in front of me shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s kind-of hard to tell when we’re in this cave. How are you feeling?”

 

I shifted slightly, noticing how several of my ropes were now considerably weaker. But not enough to let me climb out of this stupid wooden thing. Damn. At least they weren’t digging into my scales anymore. “Better,” I said. I opened my mouth, stopped, and thought for a second. “I just want to—I mean, I feel like I should thank you again, both of you, for—“

 

“Shadow-Blender, we’ve already had this conversation,” the dragoness reprimanded me. “We didn’t heal you only for _you_ , but also for the Queen.” Softening her voice, she said, “Don’t take it so personally.”

 

I frowned. “Alright.”

 

We lapsed into an uncomfortable quiet. One that was quickly broken by the Two-Walker in front of me. “Well, now that you’re awake, how are we going to get you and the other one out of here?” He said, puzzled. “He’s all the way in the other cage, and I really doubt they’ll let both of you out at the same time.”

 

The female broke into the conversation. “Oh, I forgot! I’m sorry,” she apologized. “While you were asleep, the other Shadow-Blender told us that the human told him they were to release him last. It isn’t a case of escaping, it’s a matter of helping _him_ escape and then fleeing.”

 

They were saving Hiccup for last? My eyes narrowed at the news, a spark of determination rising from the guilt and agony I had bathed in for so long. If we didn’t figure out a plan fast enough, then my last memory of him would be watching him being shut behind the newer-looking cage. I swear by the Dragoness of the Moon, I would be _damned_ if I let that happen! We needed to…

 

“Wait a second,” I said, so quiet that the dragons around me probably didn’t hear me. I struggled to lift my head, ears standing straight up, muscles tensing. The male in front of me noticed my change in posture.

 

Warily, as if he didn’t want to know the answer, he asked, “What is it?”

 

My mouth hung open. I couldn’t believe it. I just _couldn’t_ believe the idea that had just popped into my head. Swallowing, I said, “I’ve got it.”

 

The Flame-Skin’s claws clicked against the stone floor as he turned towards me in interest. The elder purred approvingly.

 

“Hey!” I shouted, turning my head towards the cage with the other dragons. “Can someone tell me if the other Shadow-Blender is awake?”

 

“ _Hold on_ ,” someone said. They repeated the question, and so did the next dragons. I fidgeted during the inevitable pause where I could no longer make out what anyone was saying, but, thank the gods, it wasn’t very long. “ _Yes, he’s awake. Why?_ ”

 

 “Tell him that he’s got one last lesson to learn from me.” I smiled—a big, real one. “It’s about time he’s trained in the art of magic.”

 

The dragoness squawked. “Oh, Dragon of the Sun,” she laughed, realization flooding warmly in her voice, “you’ve found the answer.” My grin widened, even as the Flame-Skin snorted apprehensively and the male Two-Walker exploded with questions.

 

We could survive.

 

* * *

If my sense of time was correct, then it was several hours later that we had finished training Hiccup and set the rest of my plan into motion. Most dragons in the cages had agreed—although, there were a few like the Flame-Skin that wanted nothing to do with it. But, for the most part, as long as I added in the (disgusting, volatile, horrendous, absurd, et cetera, et cetera…) words, “for the Queen”, the great majority wanted to be a part of it. Even so, having so many dragons willing to help two little individuals, Shadow-Blenders or not, was unusual. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of a grip the Queen had on these dragons, here on Berk. The dragoness a couple cages over seemed to be proof enough of my suspicions.

 

It had been very quiet in all the cages as most of their occupants began to fall asleep. I myself was getting droopy-eyed when a dragon from the cage over spoke up.

 

“ _Hey, Shadow-Blender._ ” They stopped for second, allowing me time to wake up, and said, “ _The other Shadow-Blender wants to know what will happen if things don’t go according to plan._ ” They, too, sounded worried. I heard the dragons in my cage shift towards me, waiting patiently for my answer.

 

I paused, trying to conduct an answer. “Tell him…that…” I hesitated again. “Tell him that it _is_ going to work, and tell him that he needs to get all the sleep he can get.” There. That sounded…stupid. Just as the dragon began to repeat what I’d said, I yelled, “Wait!”

 

After a second, I continued, “Tell him all of that, but also tell him, if it _doesn’t_ work, that I’m so sorry that he’s been put through all of this.” I slumped over. “All of it is my fault,” I whispered.

 

Nobody said anything. The dragon passed the message on. About a minute later, they said, “ _He wants you to know that he doesn’t blame you for anything, and that he’s glad to have a friend as good as you._ ” They stopped for a second. “ _I do wish the best of you two. Both of you need to escape._ ”

 

I felt fear creep up on me. But I couldn’t let it take me over and influence my decisions—everything had to be done perfectly, or else…well…I would never forgive myself if something went wrong and I could have changed it. I _had_ to escape with Hiccup. I wasn’t going to let it end this way.

 

“Tell him that, no matter what, I’m glad to have had him as my closest friend,” I told the messenger. “And also tell him that we both should really get some sleep. I wasn’t joking about that.”

 

They laughed a little, but did as they were told. “ _He says that he thinks that you two really do have a chance, and ‘alright’. I guess he’s going to sleep now or something._ ”

 

“Maybe you should follow your own advice,” the Flame-Skin grumbled.

 

I rested my chin on my leg, knowing that sleep would not come easily. Now that Hiccup had (unintentionally) brought up the very real possibility of failure and shattered my imaginary, perfect world, no matter how brief, I couldn’t help but imagine the worst possible outcomes. In an attempt to counteract them, I tried to imagine us besting even the most improbable conflicts, which, to my surprise, helped. Before I knew it, I had gone from letting my imagination run wild to dreaming, and the world receded, eventually fading away to nothing but an unnoticeable mist.

 

* * *

When I woke up, my stomach was rolling.

 

 _Well, that ended fast_ , I thought sarcastically. Sleeping had done no good to pull the weights off of my body, as I had hoped. I sighed, curling up as much as I could.

 

From the sounds of the other dragons, they were all still sleeping. It was almost peaceful, considering the circumstances. I closed my eyes to enjoy every second of it, certain that it would end soon. I was right.

 

It felt like only a few seconds had passed when I heard a faint ringing coming from outside the cage. I turned my head towards it, not bothering to open my eyes. The sound, which was actually quite pleasant, stopped after a few more hearty beats. I waited for a second, and then shook my head a little. Humans.

 

Even though I knew I should be waking up the other dragons at this time, I decided to wait. For all I knew, it was some weird morning ritual that the humans did every morning that Hiccup had just not told me about. Or maybe some clumsy idiot had dropped something metal near our cages and it had bounced down a hill...or something. When it came to humans, you never really knew. Crazy little furless monkeys.

 

Any hope that it wasn’t directly related to us, the captured dragons, was struck down when I began to hear a mass of Vikings walking above the cage. My heart skipped a beat. Here we go.

 

I lifted myself up as far as I could. “All of you, wake up!” I announced at the top of my lungs. “Wake up _right now!_ ”

 

“Huh?!” The young Two-Walker woke with a start, yelping frantically before calming down. “What is it? Wait, what’s that sound?” He gasped. The humans had approached very rapidly, and now their voices could be heard coming through the ceiling. My tail whipped around in nervousness.

 

The Flame-Skin growled. “What do you _think_ it is?”

 

I narrowed my eyes in his general direction. “Lay off. He’s never been here before.”

 

“Neither have we,” the angry dragon said. I scoffed, flinging my head sideways.

 

Throughout our (brief) conversation, the chatter of the Vikings could very easily be heard. But, all of the sudden, they just…stopped. A great hush descended onto both the prisoners and their captors. In anxiety, the Flame-Skin burst into flames. I squinted, looking up at the ceiling with my ears held stiff.

 

There were thick, heavy footsteps that _clunk_ ed almost directly above us, off to our left. Then he spoke.

 

“ _Are we ready to begin?!_ ” The King shouted. When a terrifyingly loud roar nearly drowned out his tight, obviously-forced laugh (and I was a _dragon_ and could tell!), he announced, “ _Then let’s start this tournament!_ ”

 

In our cage, there was a visual impact to his words. I hissed, leaning down into my rolling-cage, and the elder stomped her feet. The Flame-Skin clearly did not know what had been said based on his confused expression, but knew enough that our doom was starting. The poor almost-hatchling, though…

 

“What? What did he say? What’s going on?” He demanded, pulling on his restraints.

 

“They’re going to start killing us,” the Flame-Skin ground out.

 

At the upstart this caused, I intervened, “Hey! Just give him a rest, would you?!” I bared my teeth at the incredibly immature Flame-Skin and turned to the Two-Walker. “Look…he said they were starting a tournament. So that means that all that stuff we talked about, we’re going to be doing it right now, okay?” I tried to keep my voice light and calm, so that he would stay the same. It didn’t work.

 

“I don’t want to die!” The Two-Walker wailed, throwing his head back and howling. I reached out a paw towards him, but couldn’t quite make it. He backed into the wall closest to him (pushing himself closer to the door) and cowered, eyes a blur of colors jolting back and forth. The Flame-Skin had the good sense to extinguish his fire, leaving us with darkness and the rapid breathing of the Two-Walker.

 

The female clucked. “Now, now,” she soothed, “don’t you worry. You’re going to fly straight up to the Dragoness of the Moon, and She is going to treat you like an aged warrior, I swear it. Alright?” When he didn’t respond right away, she pressed, “ _Alright?_ ”

 

“Okay,” he whimpered. He continued to take in short, uneven breaths of air.

 

“And, you know what?” The elder continued. “You helped a lot more than any dragon could think to ask of you. Look at what you’ve done! You helped heal an otherwise fatal wound without any knowledge of magic. If it weren’t for you, then this Shadow-Blender over here wouldn’t have been able to find a way out and to the Queen. You directly saved the nest, little one,” she said, her old, shaky voice overfilling with pride. “So keep your head up, and know that the gods will honor you.”

 

The little one sniffled. “O-okay.”

 

With a sad smile, I took over. “There you go. And, Two-Walker, I just want to say that you are one of the bravest dragons I’ve had the fortune of knowing, and I am _so_ grateful to you for—“

 

A huge _CLUNK_ rang inside our cage. I stopped and leaned away, but before anyone could react, the door was flung open by a two pairs of Vikings absolutely _covered_ in weapons. The male Two-Walker tried to fling himself away from them, but they’d already had their sights set on him; he’d been nearly touching them with his tail, he was so close.

 

“No!” The young dragon cried, struggling hard enough to break the ropes on his wings and flapping them into a blur. Spines flew towards the humans, but they simply held up their circular pieces of wood and caught them with them, never halting in their advance. “No!”

 

We watched, completely helpless, as the volatile humans detached and held down the Two-Walker. He turned on them, fear turning him feral, but they were too strong. Each Viking took hold of him, forcing the poor thing out into the center ring. “No! Please!” He sobbed, digging his claws into the ground, trying to pull himself back towards us.  He managed to spin around, and focused one eye on us. “ _Help!_ ”

 

My throat went dry. I couldn’t say anything, couldn’t think of something that would even remotely help him. Another pair of Vikings that had been waiting by the door pulled it shut.

 

I pressed my forehead into the rolling-cage in a vain attempt to block out the sounds coming from the arena, but it was no use. The crowd above cheered in a myriad of whoops and yells. There was a distant banging, far to our left, and then the screams of the humans rose to the highest volume I’d ever heard, and they began to chant a name.

 

He had been killed so fast.

 

The elder let out a soft sigh. “May the Dragoness of the Moon guide him,” she prayed.

 

“At least he died trying to help,” the Flame-Skin said half-heartedly.

 

Our cage suddenly felt very empty. I hung my head, feeling as if the weight of the world rested on my shoulders. That young dragon should _not_ have been put in this position. He should _not_ have been killed! It was _unfair!_

 

I looked up, staring in the spot that the Two-Walked had been pulled out through. The dragons acted in cruelty because the Queen forced them to. As far as I knew, these humans were doing these terrible acts of war all on their own. They didn’t have a near-god looming over them every second of their lives. They had the ability to make choices and actually _think_ for themselves, unlike the dragon tribe.

 

I was going to make them regret this day, if it was the last thing I did.

 

The cage next to us rumbled as it was opened. Someone, young by the high pitch in their voice, started to yowl wordlessly. As they were dragged out, I heard another dragon in the cage remind them of ‘the plan’, and the cage was locked off.

 

The ground began to shudder in a steady thrum, like a heartbeat. It was far-off, distant, but definitely there. After a few seconds it stopped. Then it happened again, and after a brief pause, once more.

 

Then it stopped.

 

The Flame-Skin’s tail smacked against the wall as he flung it about. “I really hope your big idea comes through, Shadow-Blender.” His voice was threatening.

 

“Me, too,” I said quietly. During the short time we’d spoken, another dragon had been released and killed. I could only imagine it was a Little-Biter, the poor thing. They may not be the smartest, but what they lack in intelligence they make up for in personality.

 

It all happened so fast. There was the now-familiar shaking and moaning of cages being opened in quick succession, and the crowd above seemed to be unable to catch its breath, they were screaming so loud. It wasn’t until a dragon three cages over solemnly informed us that all the Little-Biters were being taken out of their cages that it made sense. Apparently, several had managed to squeeze their ways out of their cages, and had been trying to bite through the ropes on the other dragons until they had been discovered. The punishment was swift.

 

We had nothing to say to that. Another cage was opened, and the battle that proceeded was very long. Whatever dragon had been let out defiantly stood its ground, and, at one point, something was thrown into the door of our cage. I jumped when the metal rattled and shivered, as if a great force had gathered up all its strength and sent it onto it. Several alarmed humans began giving orders, and the dragon outside _laughed._

 

“Good for them,” the Flame-Skin cackled.

 

I was less amused. “For that, they may be—“

 

My prediction came true before I even finished my sentence. The dragon let out a throaty yelp that ended in a quiet gurgle. I rested my chin on my paws, disheartened. I couldn’t help but think that all of this was directly my fault. If I hadn’t changed Hiccup into a dragon, none of this would have ever happened—life would have gone on normally. There wouldn’t have ever been a fighting tournament. Hiccup would have never been rejected by his father, tortured, sent to die—

 

“Don’t despair, Shadow-Blender,” the remaining Two-Walker murmured. She patted me on the wing with her beak. “This is not all on you.”

 

I shook my head. “You don’t know the half of it.”

 

She chuckled. “What, that you morphed that Viking hatchling into a Shadow-Blender?”

 

“Bu—wha—huh?!” My eyes widened, and every muscle in my body tensed. I took a sharp intake of air. How did she know?! Why hadn’t she said anything before?

 

“You have grown since we’ve last seen you,” the elder said. “The human-dragon has changed you. Perhaps, you’ll be able to teach the tribe what he has taught you.”

 

The Flame-Skin choked on his words several times before managing to spit out, “He’s a _human?!_ What good could possibly come from _him!_ ”

 

Our cage shook. The lock _CLUNK_ ed, and a sharp spinning noise rushed in. The door was pulled open, and ray of light pierced into my eyes like a woodclaw. I growled at the Vikings, and, in response, they held up several disgusting, _poisonous_ eels, throwing them towards me and the Flame-Skin. I pushed away, eyes wide; dead ones were enough, but these ones were _rotting_ eels, covered in disease and death!

 

In my horror, I threw my head up, allowing me a view of the arena. If I focused hard enough, I could just make out Hiccup’s cage. It looked battered.

 

The vile, putrid humans calmly walked into the cage without a care in their world, focusing most of their remaining eel-shields on the Flame-Skin. He bared all his teeth at them, his pink gums shining brightly. This was largely ignored.

 

“More than you can imagine,” the elder finally answered, grim. I heard a few clinks behind me, and the next thing I knew, she was walking past me, flanked by a team of humans. They were just as surprised as I was, gawking at her like she’d gone and sprouted fur. The crowd went quiet.

 

There was an awkward pause as she let the Vikings finish untying her wings. She turned her head towards the Flame-Skin and I and smiled. “Farewell.”

 

An invisible claw shoved its way down my throat, strangling me. “Farewell,” I breathed.

 

The Vikings stepped away and retreated. She turned towards Hiccup’s cage. The door slammed shut.

 

I could _hear_ the fire streaming from one end of the cage to the other, it was so strong. The Vikings above us gasped and worried aloud, and the sound of the fireblasts changed in volume and pitch continuously. The Two-Walker was leaping across the Kill Ring, focusing all of her strength on our last hope.

 

“She’s going to run out of fire,” the Flame-Skin said. His voice cracked.

 

Several moments passed, and exactly that happened—the sound of the powerful flame of the elder dragon wisped away, like smoke fading into the air. I waited for the agonized scream, the cheering, the pain of listening helplessly while nothing happened. I was so focused on the outside world, I began to feel sick, but I _had_ to know what happened to her!

 

A heavy, thick _guiish_ filled the entire area, and even though it didn’t echo, it continued to ring in my ears. I just barely heard the sound of her body hitting the floor, the squeaks of _something_ being pulled into the arena to pick her up. There was no celebration, no happiness. The Vikings had no idea what to think of the dragon that did not fight back, that had single-mindedly done _one_ thing and then accepted its fate with unsurpassed dignity, never laying a scale on a human.

 

I swallowed heavily, squeezing my eyes shut. I was not going to cry. “May the Dragoness of the Moon guide her,” I finally mustered up after spending far too long trying to recollect myself.

 

“Y-yeah,” the Flame-Skin moaned. The cage next to ours opened, and a dragon was pulled out. “Shadow-Blender, I need to tell you something. Well, it’s more of a question.”

 

 _Bang. Bang._ “What?” I asked, startled by the sudden sincerity in his voice.

 

“Do you regret changing that human?”

 

I paused. Even though my time with Hiccup had not been very long…he had the biggest effect of my life than anything else. I had learned so many things from him, and vice versa. I had never known anyone like him, someone who could so easily forgive, even though his entire life he had been trained to do otherwise. He had made the remaining weeks of my existence so much _more_ , something that I would cherish forever. “No.”

 

The humans above shouted appraisements.

 

The Flame-Skin sucked in some air, and his scales caught fire. But this time, it was soft, meant to only provide lighting. I looked at him in confusion, and saw the same expression written across his face. “What makes him so different?” His voice grew desperate, and he added, “What makes him so important that the elder would sacrifice herself for him?”

 

My ears drooped. I understood what the Two-Walker had meant now. “He shows kindness. He…” I swallowed again. “He was so upset with being turned into a dragon. He had the easy opportunity to kill me. But he…instead of doing that, he just accepted what had happened, and he forgave me, and he wanted to help _both_ of us, not just him.” I grinned. “At first, I thought he was just being stupid.”

 

The burning dragon stared at his feet. Another tribemate was pulled out into the arena. “My father was the Flame-Skin that you used to be close to,” he confessed. “He was killed in the last attack. He was trying to fit in your place and knock down the towers. They got to him before he could get away.”

 

Oh. _Oh._ “…Flame-Skin…I’m so sorry—“

 

“Don’t you apologize to me!” He snapped, the flames brightening, turning unstable. I flinched under the hatred in his eyes looked away. “You can’t fix that with anything.” He stopped when a dragon outside the cage shrieked in pain, and took a deep breath. “You can’t fix any of this…”

 

I hesitated, and said, “What do you want me to do?”

 

The light dimmed again. “The elder had faith in you and the human for a reason. She believed that you two could change everything. And she was right about how only a Shadow-Blender can escape from this.” He met my gaze evenly. “All of these dragons here, they’re following your plan. You can’t let them down. You can’t let them all die for nothing.”

 

 _What is he getting at?_ I wondered. He knew that I couldn’t fly. He seemed to have very little faith in Hiccup, too. When I voiced my disability, he frowned, like he hadn’t considered that.

 

He was quiet, and the sounds of a battle raging on outside rang dimly inside our cage. The Flame-Skin, staring me in the eye, said with utmost sincerity, “I don’t want to die at the claws of a human. But your human—the one you’ve changed into a dragon…he _is_ different, from all humans and dragons. And so are you. That much I can tell. Maybe, what the elder was trying to say, is that you two can end this war.”

 

He clamped his jaw around my tail.

 

“Wait!” I demanded, trying desperately to stop him, but it was too late! The Flame-Skin’s fire strengthened out, and, for a brief moment, all I could see was red.

 

Then I bowled over by a tidal-wave of _agony._ It felt as if the Dragon of the Sun had struck me down, channeling all of His celestial warmth into a deadly weapon, sending it onto to me with the intentions to melt me to the ground. Bones and joints and muscles _snapped_ and _strained_ and _grew_ so fast they shredded right through my scales, and I could _feel_ the exposed tissues, skinless, panging harshly against the unsterile air, and when a covered finally did begin to form over them it was _stretched_ from what I’d already had, thinning it, tearing it! Every nerve in my body overloaded, and my own magic began to try to counteract it, but I wasn’t strong enough! The foreign entity overrode my every move, locking my limbs in place. This was not like the previous magic that sent me flailing, but something else entirely—pure, full magic.

 

I tried to say something, to beg for mercy, but when I opened my mouth nothing came out, and I lied there grasping for my voice, wanting nothing more than to let it loose so that the Flame-Skin would gods-damned _stop_ before he killed the both of us! This amount of magic that he was using was lethal for even an _experienced_ Shadow-Blender!

 

_Thud._

 

Like a flash of lightning, it ended as soon as it came. Control of my body came over me as the magic concentrated into the area it was intended to go to. I turned my head over the side of the rolling-cage and vomited.

 

Panting heavily, I queasily turned my head over to face the Flame-Skin, one hell of a lecture on my lips. “ _What_ were you think—oh, great Dragoness—“

 

I stopped, choked, and looked away, brows deepening over my eyes. Taking a second to loosely compose myself, I sucked in what felt like all the air in the cage and inched my gaze over to him.

 

The fire that had burning so brightly on his body was starting to fade, but I still could get a very good look at what the Flame-Skin had done to himself. His eyes were dulled, wide open, staring straight forward. His mouth was held open like his jaw hinge had been snapped, and the edges of his lips looked like they’d been burnt. His scales, which had been a healthy orange-red mere minutes ago, had shifted into a grayish-brown, resembling the old, molted scales of a snake. His chest was just barely rising up and down, and with each breath, he began to wheeze more and more.

 

_I don’t want to die at the claws of a human._

 

Gas filtered into my mouth. A hiss rose from my throat as it constricted and my teeth contracted. When I had gained just the right amount of power, I released it, shooting a blast of blue-white fire right into the dragon’s skull. His body jerked, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. And, for the last time, his fire died. Even so, there seemed to be a calm smile set firmly on his face.

 

I turned away, digging my claws into the wooden rolling-cage.

 

“ _What just happened in there?!_ ” The talkative Hum-Wing in the cage over demanded, horrified. Groggily, I lifted my head and turned it towards my tail.

 

Two tailtip-fins.

 

“Oh, gods,” I moaned. I fanned them both out. The left one worked perfectly, as if I had never lost it in the first place. “Oh, _gods!_ ”

 

“ _What happened? Answer me!”_ The same dragon demanded, terrified. He pounded something against the wall.

 

I ignored him, grabbing the center of my forehead and turning away from my tail and the corpse. “He’s dead!” I cried, pressing my eyes and nose into the wood below me. “He used too much magic on my tail and _he’s dead!_ ”

 

This was not what I wanted! Not at all! Not only had I been partially responsible for the death of the poor male’s father, but now his as well was completely on my shoulders! I had let an _entire heritage_ die and had done nothing but weakly protest it! If I had been stronger, _louder_ even, then the brave Flame-Skin would not have killed himself! _I_ would not have killed him!

 

“He’s dead!” I shrieked. “He’s dead, he’s dead!”

 

The dragons in the cage over were quiet for a moment. Then, a female who had not spoken up before said, “ _Is your tail healed?_ ”

 

I squinted in her general direction. “How does that even _matter?!_ He’s _dead!_ Don’t you even care?!”

 

“ _Of course I do!_ ” The dragoness hissed. “ _I want to know whether or not he died in vain._ ”

 

I sunk, my anger flowing away. Head bowed, I said, “…yes. It worked.”

 

The Hum-Wing began to tell the dragons in the other cages what had happened. I heard someone in the next cage over tell him something, and he said, “ _Hey, Shadow-Blender. The other one wants you to know that he thinks that you shouldn’t blame yourself for the Flame-Skin’s actions. He says that he did what he wanted to do, and you can’t control every little thing around you. He thinks that the Flame-Skin may have thought that it was more honorable this way._ ”

 

Dragon of the Sun, it was like he was in my head or something. I smiled a little, taking comfort in the fact that, even separated, Hiccup and I still had such a strong friendship that we could know the exact right things to say to each other.

 

“ _He also says that he wants you to know that he’s confident in his magic abilities, and that he thinks that you two will be able to escape._ ” The Hum-Wing chuckled. “ _Well,_ _I’ll be damned. Looks like he’s finally got some faith in him._ ”

 

“I hope so,” I said, fanning my tailfins out. _Because we’re going to need every single drop of it._

 

The dragoness added, “ _I just hope you two can make it to the Queen in time to warn her._ ” The other dragons in the cage made noises of agreement. I glared. How could they have forgotten about the Flame-Skin so easily? They took his death far too well.

 

The ground beneath me began to rumble, and once again, the cage besides mine was opened. I was perfectly fine with just trying to ignore it, to block it out—until I heard _who_ was being dragged out.

 

“ _Shadow-Blender!_ ” The Hum-Wing rushed. “ _Whatever you do, make sure that the others know—!_ ” Their cage shut before they could finish the sentence.

 

I took in a deep, shaky breath, trying my damndest to ignore the stench of death lofting behind me. Despite my best efforts, I still felt choked-up, shaky, _weak._ I _hated_ it.

 

It was right then and there that I decided that I wasn’t going to let the deaths get to me. It was bound to happen, inevitable. If I listened hard enough, I could hear the dragons who had agreed to help playing their parts, and I would rather rot than let their last efforts go to waste. There was no more time for doubt. I had to just _do._ My plan was crazy, but, hey, so was Hiccup’s, when we were first being chased—and it _worked._ Considering the blunt stupidity of the Vikings and both of our determination to survive, I would judge the odds to be only slightly tipped against us.

 

On and on the cages opened, dragons endlessly being untied and released into the arena. At first, the length between a death and another ‘round’ was long and drawn-out. But then the times began to shrink, and soon, someone was being pulled out just as another had breathed their last. The ones in the cage besides me were among the first to be executed after the Hum-Wing was taken, and with them, my communication with Hiccup and the others deadened. I was left alone, relying on the steady sounds of battle to know that everything was still in motion, and that I had not just been left to rot in the dark.

 

It was not too long after I’d lost contact with the others that I felt my cage open. I scrunched my tailfins together in an attempt to make it look like I was still missing one and raised my head, tilting my chin in the air. I was not going to go out panicking and screaming. I was going to be like the elder.

 

Sunlight came in, much weaker than the last time the cage had been opened. I squinted against the pain, taking in the team of humans standing in front of the cage. They all reared and jolted in dismay, gasping at some misfortune. The onlookers above the arena behind them reacted in about the same way.

 

A male backed up and tilted his head up. “Chief!” He hollered. “The last Nightmare is dead!”

 

 _Huh?_ I thought, raising a brow. For a brief, silly moment, I assumed that they were actually speaking in _codes_ , like hatchlings playing an imaginary game. My amusement fell away rather quickly when it dawned on me that, of course, humans don’t use the proper names for dragons because they don’t know them. (Apparently they aren’t good at it; why would they name a _Flame-Skin_ a Nightmare? Shadow-Blenders are far more terrifying.)

 

All the humans in the area quieted, staring intently at the spot that the male had spoken to.

 

The voice of the Chief, grave and jaded, picked up far louder and closer than I expected. “Bring out the Night Fury, then. We only have those two left.” Raising his voice to a boom, he shouted, “We begin the last rounds!”

 

The universal disdain seemed to have been swept away by an ocean wave; the humans, upon receiving encouragement from their oh-so-great leader, melted into a screaming, jovial mass. The pathetic excuses of warriors approached me warily, taking note of the lack of muzzle, and surrounded the platform I was placed on. I hissed, making the sound as obnoxiously _acidic_ as I could possibly get it. Worked like a charm; several of the cowards jumped and slunk away, leaving only the braver ones to push me out into the daylight.

 

The first thing I saw was blood. It smothered the ground, splattered against the wall in a sick imitation of the stars, oozed from carcasses that he been hastily pushed aside. Maroon footprints of both dragons and humans left no spot unmarred. _Puddles_ of it were dotting the arena. They dutifully held the reflections of the Viking onlookers. I stiffened and hacked against the sight, revolted at such a monstrosity. The horrible smell, which seemed to have its own _weight_ , condensed all around me.

 

The second thing I saw was the only armed human in the vicinity. Despite all that was around us, I recognized his scent in an instant: it was the male when had smacked me head-on with his paw back in the cave, the one who had pushed me to the ground and held me there as I was pinned down. His black fur was dripping with sweat, but his green ears were alight with determination and excitement. He looked _thrilled_ to be standing here in this cacophony, surrounded by the dead and their entrails.

 

Disgusting.

 

Someone hit an extension coming from my rolling-cage. Somehow, even as the movement was just being performed, I could tell that they were releasing me. I gracefully leaped out of the cage, whirled, and slapped the object that had tied me down for so long good and hard with the base end of my tail. It went flying, just missing one of the humans that had been scattered for the nearest (blocked) exit, and smacked into the wall, where it crumpled besides the gutted body of a Hum-Wing.

 

A Viking who had not escaped fast enough was still within reaching distance, and I seized the opportunity. I grabbed them by the upper arm and flung them over my shoulder, aiming to throw them into the ‘warrior’ I was facing. Judging by the two startled cries and a loud, wet _thunk!_ , it worked.

 

I continued to spin, turning fully around to face my cage—and what was above. The Chief of the humans looked me in the eyes, appearing calm and in-control. I flattened my ears against my head. My teeth extended to their fullest.

 

“ _May you **rot** in the Prebirth!_ ” I bellowed at him, wishing with all my body that the gods would strike him down in that instant.

 

_Splish._

 

I turned around just in time to see the axe hurtling through the air—at my _neck_. Gasping, I ducked into the stone floor and fully faced the disgraceful human in front of me. He went to a device made up of wood, holding numerous weapons, and grabbed a long one with a large stone at the end. The human squared his feet, but instead of advancing, he stayed put—most likely trying to decide how to take me on.

 

I wasn’t going to give him the chance.

 

Without hesitation, I shot a small, concentrated ball at his body. It had little warning—it was too tiny for the signature hissing noise and I’d kept my teeth extended. So the male was sent flying back, having had only enough time to raise his circular wooden object. He smacked against the wall, grunted, and slid to the ground.

 

I turned away, directing my attention to the cages. There was mine, which was still open, and then there were four more that looked generally the same as the last time I’d seen them…and then there was Hiccup’s.

 

Charred. Dented. Still smoking from the last assault. Two of the stripped tree trunks that had blocked Hiccup from the outside wall were completely split in two, and last-minute extensions had been added in an effort to preserve them. But even from here, with my little knowledge on how human inventions work, I could tell that they had been far too rushed—the bands that were supposed to hold the beams together were dead weight, sagging. The remaining two, metal and wooden, were bruised and distorted, with the latter having a crack forming right at its heart. The discarded body of a poor Two-Head lay nearly directly under it, the air around it slightly distorted with sickly green gas seeping out of the one head.

 

I took a step towards the cage. The group above it drew their weapons.

 

 _Well, that’s a minor problem_ , I decided, watching how they all locked their eyes on me and held the same taunting, hatred-filled dare. My gaze flickered to the wooden beam with the split in it. I grinned.

 

This time I didn’t hold back. I retracted my teeth, hissed as loudly as I could, and puffed my chest up for that extra ‘ _oomph_ ’. It took them a second, but the stupid humans wizened up and began to back away, shouting in alarm. Their warnings were given in vain; I let my fire loose, hitting the tree trunk point-blank. Debris rocketed away from the explosion, smoking and even catching fire, and rained on myself and the crowd. Ignoring all the sudden chaos around me, I took a step closer towards the metal one—

 

“Spitelout! _Stop it!_ ” The King roared above, followed by a deafening _CLANG!_ that sent shudders into my bones.

 

The unearthly battle cry the human made was a dead giveaway that he was fully prepared to do just that. I looked over my shoulder at him, unimpressed at his ‘subtlety’, and neatly jumped and skidded away from him as he swung his weapon with all his might. Frustrated, the human took a moment to strategize and then went at me again. I smirked; was he going to do this all day?

 

Very quickly, I learned that I had underestimated him. The second I moved to dodge, he thrust his weapon at me, smacking me right in the head! I yelped at the stinging pain and headache, and my distraction gave him plenty of time to grab my neck and throw me—and himself—to the ground, his front legs wrapped around my muzzle. I tried to open my jaw to bite at him, but he was too strong! I was stuck, with the human lying just out of reach of my claws and forcing me to the stones.

 

It was _humiliating._

 

The humans burst into applause, cheering like they’d seen a god come to the earth. Although he was panting, and the praise certainly had no affect on his grip, he let out a tiny chuckle.

 

 _Oh, that is_ it! I thought, outraged. Gathering my feet beneath me, I scanned to my direct left and right, tucked in my wings, and rocked myself right on over. The laughter and good-feelings nearly evaporated, replaced by alarmed and concerned gasps as I rolled, pushing all of my weight on top of the human as he connected with the ground. It took three once-overs for him to release me and lie flat on his back, clutching his side and wheezing.

 

I stood up and walked over to him. His face was red and sweaty and his chest was rising and falling unevenly. He bared his teeth and snarled an insult at me, one I didn’t even bother to try translating. One more moment passed, with me studying him and the human giving me the look of death. I extended my teeth, taking in a deep breath of air that carried his horrible scent…

 

His _scent._

My attack stopped almost instantaneously.

Now I knew why it was so familiar. It was nearly identical to the Chief’s, implying that they were close kin. Which meant that he was most likely the uncle of Hiccup, whom he had spoken fondly of despite the two apparently not knowing each other too well.

 

I couldn’t kill him. Even though I didn’t know for sure—what if I was right? I _struggled_ ; I wanted to _so bad_ , but doing so would undoubtedly put Hiccup in a world of pain and guilt, and with everything that had happened, it would just be _too much_ for him. He would not be able to deal with the death of a relative, especially if he thought that he had a chance to ‘warn’ me about the human that I was facing. Which he would.

 

I leaned down close to the unarmed, helpless human, narrowing my eyes. “You have no idea how lucky you are,” I said, voice low. With a final disdainful sniff, I raised my head and turned to the last occupied cage. “ _Hiccup!_ ” I shouted, “Are you ready?”

 

Although it was very muffled, I managed to make out a quiet, “Yeah!”

 

The cage door rattled—the ‘good to go’ signal that we’d planned earlier. I turned fully to the locks, grimacing at how the metal one seemed merely injured and not even close enough to break. It would take a lot more than magic and fire to send it away. _Damn!_ I thought, panic beginning to edge its way into my consciousness. I frantically looked around the cage, trying to find something that would help. _Oh,_ damn _!_

 

I looked helplessly at the cage again, gathering my fire within me. _I really hope this works_ , I prayed. _Dragon of the Sun, please—_

 

The gas coming from the Two-Head was still there. In the short duration of the human’s and my fight, it had built itself up into a noticeable cloud that hung just in front of Hiccup’s cage. I stared openmouthed at it, ears standing straight up. _Well, that was convenient. Thank you!_

 

My teeth retracted, and I widened my stance, bracing myself for the largest fireblast I’d let loose yet. The metal door shook, the second signal. Once it went again, I would wait a heartbeat and then Hiccup and I would simultaneously—

 

_Pain._

 

I shrieked in surprise and agony as something sharp drew across my backside, cutting into the connecting membrane of my wings. I spun around to see the _same damn human_ standing there, wielding a sword and holding his side, but otherwise battle-ready. He huffed triumphantly.

 

“Thought you had it easy, eh?”

 

My eyes widened. _Augh, of all times, it had to be_ now _?_ Why couldn’t he have waited for just one more second?!

 

Hiccup pounded on the door in the third and final warning. I heard the metal groan as it bulged out into the arena. He was starting to use his magic.

 

Now or never.

 

The male charged at me, his sword high above his head and ready to slice. I twisted my body towards the beam and, when he got close enough, smacked him upside the head with the blunt end of my wing. As I did this I sucked in all the air I could, filtering gas like I’d never done before and pulling my teeth in so rapdily it stung. One precious second was spared to aim at the gas coming from the Two-Head. I released my fire.

 

It was so bright my eyes hurt, so hot that my throat went raw before it even finished leaving my body. I caught a glimpse of the Chief ducking behind something before my fire connected with the ignition gas.

 

The entire side of the arena was engulfed in flames. I shielded my head behind my uninjured wing, merely listening to the blue-white fire roar and expand, the screams of the humans caught in the blast, and the horrified gasp that my opponent let loose. It lasted only a few seconds, and a deathly silence swept in to replace the sudden, unexpected cacophony.

 

I peeked out from my wing. My heart sank.

 

The beam was still there. True, it was just barely held together and now looked as if it were made of coal, some parts of it were glowing red-white, and I could actually hear some parts of it boiling. The cage door was cracked open a little bit, a huge dent retracting out in the center. But it was _still there._

 

“Toothless!” Hiccup’s voice reached out much more clearly, now that his cage had been unsealed. “Hold on! I got this!”

 

“I hope so!” I replied, dodging away from the male as he gathered his wits and came at me. His eyes flashed maniacally, and a rage-filled outcry ripped its way out of his throat. He swung his sword and I ducked, but not fast enough; the sharp metal went across the top of my ear, stripping it of its outer layer of skin and scales. But, in doing so, the stupid man left an opening!

 

I ducked my head and butted him right in the chest. The Viking managed to keep his feet on the ground, but was sent skidding back several feet. He opened his mouth to—

 

**_BANG!!_ **

****

I yelped in surprise and threw myself to the ground, just as a gigantic piece of burnt metal sailed over my head and clattered to the ground. It went through the spot that the human had just been standing in—if I hadn’t pushed him out of the way, it would have hit him dead-on. In fact, it probably looked like I was trying to _save_ him!

 

Okay, that is _not_ funny.

 

Of course, my annoyance quickly faded when I realized the implications of what I’d just seen. I grinned, looking over my shoulder at Hiccup, who was nearly prancing out of his cage despite his injuries, he was so happy to be freed. I _ran_ to him.

 

We stopped in front of each other and I wrapped one paw around his neck, resting my head on top of his for just a moment, so happy that we were both _alive_. The humans around us were screaming and howling, and several began to jump down into the Kill Ring. I tensed, pulling away.

 

“Hiccup, shoot at that spot right there,” I told him, pointing with my nose at the middle of the ceiling, where the metal looked the weakest due to rust. Although it killed my throat to do so, I managed to gather up just enough fire to send in that direction. It was weak and barely did the trick, but luckily, I was not alone this time.

 

Hiccup sent a much more powerful ball into the chains and beams, tearing a hole clean through. I wasted no time in jumping up and taking flight, squeezing through the metal and earning several scratches as a result. I was free.

 

_I was free!_

 

But something was wrong—I couldn’t hear Hiccup behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and nearly fell out of the sky in horror; although he was above the ground, several Vikings had leaped onto Hiccup’s back and legs, weighing him down. He was slowly descending back to the ground, despite flapping his wings so fast they nearly became a blur.

 

Shooting fire would surely result in my friend being injured. So I did the only thing I could: I flew down to the hole and reached out with my paws. “Hurry!” I cried, struggling to hover with the numerous injuries I’d received. “Just grab my paw!”

 

Hiccup’s eyes flashed with terror. He flung himself towards me—and this time, we did reach each other. I gripped his legs as well as I could and thrust myself upwards, pulling him through the gap with a groan. It was just big enough for him to get through, but not the humans. They all collided with some part of the cage and fell back to the earth, tumbling through the air.

 

I spun and flew straight up, desperately trying to gain altitude. “Alright, let’s go!”

 

“I am!” Hiccup gasped a little bit behind me.

 

I twisted a little to give him an encouraging smile—one that he readily returned.

 

My expression was wiped off my face when I caught sight of something below us. Among all of the chaos and confusion, one human stood completely still, relief evident on their face. ‘Snotlout’ almost seemed to catch my eye, that same, confusing look seemingly carved into him. He gazed up at us for a little bit longer and, when he had confirmed that we were as good as gone, turned and walked away without looking back.

 

* * *

You know, I would be a lot happier about being able to fly if my wing wasn’t making it _so damn hard._

 

Every wingbeat sent spikes of pain throughout my side and lower back. A quick glance showed that the membrane that connected my wing to my body was slowly tearing open with each stroke; if I did not get it some attention soon, then I would be just as crippled as I was before.

 

Which was a problem, considering that Hiccup and I were flying over an endless expanse of plain _ocean._

 

Said Shadow-Blender wasn’t having too much of a great time himself. He was injured and burnt; the fire that had destroyed his cage had managed to creep in and get a good go at him. On top of that, he did not have the fortune of having been in the same cage as other dragons, and did not undergo any magic healing whatsoever. His wingbeats were quick and uneven, massively showing his inexperience.

 

I averting my gaze from him guiltily. I should have taught him more than the basics. We’d had an _entire week!_ An entire week in which I’d done _nothing._ I could have described to him so many combat skills, evasive maneuvers, and flying tricks that would have certainly come in handy. But instead, I’d played hide-and-seek with him.

 

If he collapsed midair, I would not be able to catch him. And it would be my fault that such a horror would happen in the first place.

 

I kept quiet for a moment, listening to the ocean and the wind and the exhausted panting coming from the both of us. Then, “Hiccup, we need to go to the nest.”

 

He fluttered momentarily, balking at me. “ _What?!_ ”

 

I opened my wings against the wind, taking me back to his level and then stretching them out to glide on an air current. It took him a moment, but Hiccup mimicked me, allowing him some time to rest his wings.

 

“I seriously doubt we have enough strength to just hop on over to the next continent,” I told him. “We need to rest somewhere safe. The Vikings have never found the nest, and I doubt they will anytime soon.” I glanced over my shoulder for the umpteenth time to make sure we weren’t being chased. “They can’t follow us there, either.”

 

 _And you can’t just abandon everyone there_ , a little part of me whispered.

 

Hiccup rocked unsteadily and righted himself. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said. “We do need to rest, but not right where the Queen can get us. We should find an island and rest there.”

 

“What do you mean, where she can ‘get us’?” A frown settled across my face. In the back of my mind, an idea formed; one that was idiotic and dangerous—one that Hiccup had probably already thought of himself.

 

He narrowed his eyes, determination set on his face. “We need to take her down. And it’s kind-of hard to plan that when we’re _living_ with her.”

 

I huffed, dropping my head. “Hiccup, that’s suicide. I’ve thought about it before for a very long time, but whenever I thought there was an opening, or a weakness…it would disappear soon after. She’s too powerful.”

 

“What, so you want to go there and pretend to be under her spell and be her little slave?” Hiccup growled. “There were dragons in there that were still under her control, Toothless! That means that she must have _some_ sort of idea of what happened!” He turned his head to me, eyes agonized. “And she did _nothing!_ ”

 

A spike of adrenaline went through my body as the realization hit me. Although I had been aware that the spell was still taking effect in the cages, I had not given it _that_ much thought—I had not realized that the Queen would have easily known what had been happening. I had just accepted the fact that her grip reached even to Berk.

 

…but even if the Queen had allowed for that massacre to happen, it still didn’t make the ‘let’s take her down’ part of Hiccup’s plan any easier.

 

When I told him just that, he gave me a surprised look. “So you want to sit back and do nothing?”

 

Wincing, I answered, “For the time being, yes. We need to recuperate.”

 

Hiccup was quiet at this. He stared off into the horizon, eyes half-lidded, and then tilted his head slightly towards me. “We’ve had it all wrong. This whole time, for hundreds of years,” his voice nearly rained disappointment, “and now there’s a chance to make everything right and you’re going to pass it up because it’s too _dangerous?_ _You’re_ the one who took on an entire troop of _angry Vikings!_ ”

 

I flattened my ears. “Yeah, and you know what happened? I lost. And because of that, all this happened. That’s why it’s too dangerous to go against her. It’s safer to just lay low for awhile, try to recover, and then think of something,” I tried to reason.

 

“And, in the meantime, be a dragon slave,” Hiccup repeated, voice low.

 

Alright, _that_ was enough. “I am _not_ risking either of us being killed again!” I snapped, giving him a sharp look. “You’ve never seen her before. She could destroy an entire _mountain_ if she wanted to. Even without the spell on us, and with all the magic the two of us can make, it still wouldn’t be enough to even _bruise_ her!” My friend looked away guiltily, but I didn’t stop. “That line of thought leads to nowhere, and let me tell you, it’s not the most uplifting thing in the world. I suggest you give up on the idea before you get too attached to it. It’s impossible.”

 

Hiccup fell out of the air current, resuming his frantic flapping until he caught it beneath his wings again. He stared straight down at the ocean. I’d given up on him saying anything (and begun to beat myself up for being so harsh) when he moaned, “Everything they know about the dragons is wrong,”

 

“I know,” I sighed, “and it’s frustrating and _unfair_ , and I completely agree with you about how the Queen needs to die. But you’re going at it all wrong. If we do try to kill her, we probably wouldn’t be the only dragons being hurt. You have to remember that the others still depend on her. We can’t do it all alone.” I tried to give him a small, reassuring smile, but he wasn’t looking at me.

 

The brown Shadow-Blender nodded. “Yeah,” he said, sullen.

 

We continued to fly, aimlessly riding the rising air currents up and down. I wasn’t familiar with the area we were in—all I knew was that we were close enough to the nest for me to feel the instinctual drive to go towards it. I made sure to keep us going in a circle around it, trying to keep it in the center—as long as we did, we would have a reference point. But I still worried that we’d taken off in the wrong direction, that we were heading towards nothing but the open expanse of frigid water below us, that we would eventually tire and fall. The sun was already beginning to lower, and with it gone, our chances of finding somewhere to rest lowered dramatically. Islands are a lot harder to spot when they’re little black dots against a midnight-blue ocean.

 

It must have been an hour after our conversation that Hiccup began to struggle. His wings did not have the strength to remain locked for so long; they were going to bend in on themselves soon. I wildly spun around in every direction I could, but still saw _nowhere_ to go!

 

I finally stopped and went down besides him, as close as I could. “Don’t worry,” I said, swallowing. “I’ll catch you.”

 

Hiccup grunted in deep concentration. “No. I’m okay. There _has_ to be a place to land somewhere, right?” He turned his head towards me. “I mean, seriously, how can—“ His eyes widened, and then, to my shock, and enormous grin split across his face. “There!”

 

I spun around so quickly the wind buffeted me, forcing me back several meters. But I didn’t care—there was an island!

 

“Let’s go!” I shouted. The two of us broke free from the current and, even though we’d just been incredibly tired before, the sight of our salvation was almost revitalizing. It was like all the wounds and sore muscles just faded away because this horrible day was almost over.

 

A brown blur swooped past me, only allowing me to catch a glimpse of my companion’s wings tucked in a loose dive. “I’ll race you!” He challenged over his shoulders. He even wiggled his rear end at me, just enough so that I could see him taunting me but controlled enough for him to avoid spiraling out.

 

“Are you sure? I don’t want your feelings to get hurt when I leave you in the dust.” I smirked at his slightly offended expression.

 

Hiccup’s oh-so-mature response was to count down as fast as he could and go into a flat-out sprint.

 

Rolling my eyes, I pulled my legs in, straightened my body out, and easily began gaining on the poor inexperienced runt. He must have heard the wind whipping about, because he suddenly began flapping again, which sort-of helped him go faster, but not really. Laughing, I dove beneath him and then pulled straight up in front of him, spinning around once our backs were directly parallel with each other and twirling around him again.

 

The world became distant and I inhaled deeply, reveling in the simple joy of finally being able to _fly_ again. Sure, pulling off such fancy stunts hurt my wing like hell, but it was well worth it. I felt like I’d died and been risen again, greeted by my loved ones.

 

Hiccup seemed to emphasize, laughing whole-heartedly. “Showoff!” He teased. “You’re going to regret doing all that!”

 

“How?” I snorted, amused. Hiccup’s response was to paw at the air, close his wings, and go into a _very_ sloppy dip that looked more like an angled freefall than anything else. The island was now close enough for him to be able to swerve up and land on it neatly—he’d probably intended to do that the whole time. I couldn’t help but worry, though; while there were plenty of trees to cushion a crashlanding, the entire landmass seemed to be hoisted up on very tall, very sharp-looking cliffs—not a single beach was in sight.

 

The wind carried a meek “ _—cause I’m going to win!_ ” that sent me back down to earth. I giggled and increased my speed just a little bit. When he tried to look at me again, I pulled on my best ‘I’m doing my best’ face. Or, at least, I hoped I did. Either way, he got there first.

 

Hiccup flared his wings and landed horribly, taking giant leaps that merged into a gallop in an attempt to avoid falling flat on his face. He stopped a huge distance from the spot he landed, and twisted his neck to look at me as I dropped to the ground with more, erm, _grace._

 

“Good job,” I commented.

 

He walked in a tight circle. “You’re just _jealous_ I won,” he gasped out, pointing at me with a paw. Grinning deviously, he crouched low to the ground, his behind sticking up in the air. “I bet you couldn’t do it even _if_ you were at full stamina!”

 

“Oh?” I said, an eyebrow kicking up. Turning my head, I pretended to preen my right wing, giving him only half my attention. “You’re sure I couldn’t beat you now?”

 

Hiccup hummed sassily in one-hundred percent confirmation.

 

 _Don’t smile, don’t smile!_ “Well…” I shrugged my shoulders and stretched my front legs out, popping my back. “…I guess we’ll just have to find out!”

 

Using my already-lowered position to my advantage, I pushed off the ground and jumped right at him. It was very hard to _not_ laugh at the high-pitched squeal that escaped the dragon’s mouth.

 

Hiccup managed to duck away just in time. He turned and began to run, shouting, “ _Cheater!_ ”

 

Opting to give chase instead of responding, I jogged after him, purposely pounding my paws onto the ground so he would know _exactly_ where I was. When I got too close, Hiccup halted and abruptly changed course, snickering like he’d just discovered something amazing and spectacular and wonderful.

 

“Hah! Think you can fool me!” I said loudly, easily making the turn. His tail was just within reach—all I had to do was surprise him with a well-aimed pounce—

 

I suppose I should have noticed that he was running straight at a tree.

 

Hiccup jumped at it and kicked off of it. I, on the other paw, barely had time to yelp before I smacked facefirst into it.

 

 _Oh. Ouch._ I groaned dramatically, rubbing my face and giving Hiccup a fake glare as he stood over me, triumphant.

 

“Hah!” He cried, rising to his hind legs and puffing his chest up. Raising his paws into the air, he shouted with much bravado, “I have conquered this mighty beast! I am Hiccup, the Invincible— _aaaah_! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

 

I shifted a little in my seated position on his quickly-deflating chest. Lifting up a paw and licking it, I prompted, “And?”

 

“Won’t do that again,” he wheezed.

 

I ran my paw over my face. “ _And?_ ”

 

“…you win.”

 

“Much better.” I got up and beamed at him as rolled around and pushed himself to his feet. He seemed to think for a moment, and then sat down.

 

Hiccup mirrored my expression. “I can’t believe we’re actually alive,” he said, his tone lighthearted despite the subject.

 

Nodding, I walked a few paces along the forest’s edge. It stretched out endlessly in both directions, implying that it was uninhabited by humans. The lack of buildings helped with that, too. “I know. It’s amazing, to think that it actually _worked_ ,” I agreed, deciding that we could explore later and moving over to his side.

 

He slapped my front leg gently. “Weren’t you the one who told me to be more confident in myself?”

 

“Uuum,” I drawled, not quite remembering. Hiccup threw his head back and laughed, his shoulders shaking. It was contagious; I couldn’t help but do the same.

 

“But, really,” he continued, growing more serious. Rubbing his cheek against mine, Hiccup said, “I’m just really glad that we lived.” He looked at me momentarily, a wide grin on his face, and rested his head on my neck, giving a deep sigh. I stood there and awkwardly leaned into his hug, feeling completely inadequate. Nobody, besides my relatives, had _ever_ been this open with me. I had no idea how to react, and it was _embarrassing._ Luckily, my friend didn’t seem to mind. We held our sort-of-heartwarming position (mostly awkward, though) for several minutes.

 

And then it was like all his strength left him, and he sank to the ground without a word.

 

“Hiccup?” I gasped, nudging his ear with my nose. He gave a tiny murmur, twitching said appendage. His eyes fluttered shut and didn’t reopen, the day’s events finally taking its toll on him.

 

Shaking my head in exasperation (even though he couldn’t see me do it), I lied down in front of him. Pricking my ears, I scanned every bit of our environment, leaving nothing for the imagination. The only disturbance in the environment was the wind drifting towards the nest. After a long while of nothing happening, I rested my head on top of Hiccup’s and drooped, exhaustion washing over me and carrying all of my energy away.

 

Sleep, unsurprisingly, came fast.


	11. Chapter 11

 “Astrid, can you please bring me some rye?”

 

I slammed the butt of my favorite knife down on the grain I’d been grinding with a little more force than necessary. With a huff, I pushed it all up in a pile and brought the wooden plate over to my mentor. She scrutinized the inconsistencies, the uneven grains and occasional twig, and accepted my ‘hard work’ with a sigh. “…alright, dear. Thank you,” the overweight brunette said, accepting it and scooping the rye into a shallow bowl with a blunt pestle to fix my mistakes. I fumed, flicking my bangs back, and turned around to go check on the bread in the oven.

 

The smoke made it impossible to see, so I took the flat pan out to get a look at the dough. It hadn’t browned a bit. With a dragonlike growl I shoved the pan back into the oven and slammed the protective metal railing shut (courtesy of Gobber; he’d meant it as a good-natured joke to cheer me up, since none of the other ovens in the village had such a thing. I was just insulted by it.). Bergthora let out a heavy breath of air again at the abuse of her cooking utensil. I ignored her.

 

A baker. Of all things, I was chosen to be the local bread-making Viking’s apprentice. Even Ruffnut had it better, selected to work the Elder’s farm since her husband had passed away and she needed an extra hand. At least she got to do more than _one thing._ At least she was actually _staying fit_ , not being cooped up in a tiny space all day long. Already, just two days after my banishment from dragon-fighting, I felt that my aim was off, my strength lowered. I had tried sneaking out with my beloved axe, but my father had intercepted and had a good go at me about minding my punishment.

 

The boys were so lucky. All of them were being apprenticed in fishing, hunting, sailing, battle training for raids and defense—‘men’ stuff. Things that I obviously could not do, was not worthy of. I made me furious that someone like _Snotlout_ got the better end of the deal. But, then again, I guess I really did deserve the worst job, and he the best. He had told the truth, after all.

 

I checked the dough again. It still wasn’t changing—it was still that disgusting pale color. Smoke poured out into the bakery when I messed around with it too much, so I just assumed that I was failing at the mind-dullingly simple task somehow and pulled it out. “Bergthora, can you tell me what I’m doing wrong?!” I snapped in frustration, glaring at the lump of slightly-charred… _stuff._ I knew what ingredients _should_ be in it, but I could never remember how much of each. In my last ‘batch’, I’d completely forgotten the flour. That hadn’t worked too well.

 

“Did you put both flours in it?” She asked, looking over her shoulders at me. Her brown eyes were shielded, her tone contained. At first, Bergthora had been just as happy about having the local dragon-conspirer work with her as I was. She’d seemed to have gotten over it very fast, though, and wasn’t treating me with the nearly as much ice as the rest of Berk was. If I didn’t pay attention to her body posture or tone at all, I might even be able to convince myself that she didn’t care.

 

 _There are_ two _types of flour?!_ I thought in disbelief. _Why two? That’s so stupid!_ “No. I forgot.” I rubbed my forehead in frustration.

 

“Well, dear,” Bergthora began, approaching the failed batter and poking it. “There’s wheat flour and barley flour that you put in that.” She smiled a little, picking up the superheated blob with her bare hands and tearing it open. I stared in disbelief, only half-listening as she continued, “And you also put the oat grains inside of it. They usually go on top, when the baking has almost finished. That way they don’t burn and make it unpleasantly crunchy.”

 

“So I failed every single part I could,” I summed it up, disappointment coloring my voice. I turned away, picking up my knife to grind some more grains. My knuckles turned white, I was gripping it so hard. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t _meant_ to do this. If anything, my Hiccup-esque screwups were proof of that!

 

The baker must have read my mind, because she put a hand on my shoulder and turned me round. “Now, Astrid,” she began, holding me by both my upper arms and leaning down to eyelevel. I hesitated, biting back a “leave me alone”; she’d never spoken to me like this before. And I knew that, no matter how much I hated this, it was a _punishment_ for a reason; I deserved it.

 

Bergthora offered me a little smile. “I know that things have been rough for you lately. But you can’t shelve all your weaponry in a moment’s notice. Both you and I know you’re meant for greater things.” She gave me an encouraging squeeze and withdrew.

 

I stared at the dough, skeptical. “Hopefully it isn’t bread-making.”

 

I was rewarded with a thundering laugh. “Hopefully!” Bergthora agreed whole-heartedly, giving me a whop on the shoulder hard enough to make me flinch. She was starting to begin a (probably blunt) statement when the door suddenly slammed open, bounced against the wall, and a torrent of cold air rushed in. I tried to block the fire from it with my body, but it was no use—it died out. Annoyed, I began looking around for the flint stones while my new mentor rushed to meet her customer.

 

She greeted them heartily, and a male voice responded, “Yes, you too! I just needed some bread.”

 

Where was that dumb flint? I’d just had it not even an hour ago, when the same exact scenario had played when Bergthora’s young daughter rushed in to ask for a knife to play with. I pushed around random pans and cutting boards, looking for the magical little stones.

 

“Oh, how’s your wife?” Bergthora asked after listing off the prices for the various loafs of bread we had available.

 

The man grunted, a solemn overtone slicing through his voice. “Better. When the Night Furies shot that hole in the roof, a piece of metal came down and burned her something bad. She’ll be slow in that arm for the rest of her life.”

 

My mentor gave an empathetic hiss. I slammed a pan down with more force than necessary.

 

So many people had been injured that day. A child almost died when a spare flame caught him and lit him up as if he were made of dry bramble. His mother had ripped off her coat to smolder the flames the second it happened, but the damage had been done. Another man that had been holding onto Hiccup had hit his head on the cage when the traitor flew through the hole, and had not regained consciousness since. His wife was refusing to make the proper arrangements, but if he did not return to us soon, she would have no choice. Countless people had been hit by shrapnel that had cut inches deep. In one case, as of last night, lethally.

 

A fog of grief had descended on Berk and refused to disperse under the sun.

 

“Most of my patients are expected to make a full recovery,” the man continued hopefully as I dug through a drawer and finally found the dumb stones squeezed in the back, under a mace. I raised an eyebrow at the random weapon and carefully pulled the flintstones out from under it, closing the drawer much more gently than usual.

 

My family had not been affected by the escape. Besides my horrendous punishment, that is. Even my parents were upset about it, despite their constant reinforcements of it.

 

Honestly, I wouldn’t have been so bitter if Hiccup hadn’t been freed himself. I had given in to help the village and to capture the traitor, making my loss feel like it was justified in some twisted way. But now the dragons were gone and I was left with an empty pocket where I used to hold my pride. There was no point in saying that I had tried to help the village, even before everyone knew, because now both Night Furies were gone and all my friend and mine’s efforts had gone to waste.

 

There was no point in saying that we had tried to keep Hiccup from becoming a traitor in the beginning, even going so far as to give him a second chance. We probably would have given him a _third_ one, if given the opportunity. Nobody would believe us anymore.

 

I still couldn’t believe how _synchronized_ the other dragons had been. All of them, attacking Hiccup’s cage…it was like being pinned down and watching a rival clan member strike down your loved one. We had figured it out, worked to fix the damage, and nearly succeeded. But we had severely underestimated Hiccup’s strength.

 

An image of the metal door flinging open with an ear-grinding squeal and flying through the air, snapping into the wall like a brittle bone, flitted into my mind. I shuddered, remembering how close to death Spitelout had been in that moment, just inches away from decapitation. I couldn’t help but imagine myself in the place of that door, or Ruffnut, or Tuffnut, or Fishlegs or Snotlout. All too easily, we could have been that broken pile crumpled up in the corner.

 

Hiccup clearly had given up on siding with Berk. He certainly used to in the beginning, but now he was nothing but the enemy. He had been the enemy since he first stole, but I was too blind to see that. Snotlout hadn’t shared my handicap.

 

I could only hope that he had tired out and fallen into the ocean, sinking like the dragon he was to the bottom. Everyone knew that flying dragons could not swim well.

 

Bergthora said something to the doctor, but I wasn’t paying any attention anymore. I started the fire in a haze, unable to stop myself from replaying Hiccup and the Night Fury’s escape in my mind’s eye, wondering what could have been done, how we could have stopped it. Why hadn’t they halted the tournament when it became clear the dragons were helping Hiccup? Why didn’t we just pull him out first?

 

Chief Stoick’s expression when Hiccup broke free was the answer my subconscious pushed to mind. He had frozen, eyes wide, hand clenched around his sword, and done _nothing_ but stare once his former son had escaped from his cage, even as the Kill Ring was torn apart.

 

Did the Chief want Hiccup to survive? I tried to put myself in his place, but couldn’t; I was too wrapped up in my own mistakes, my own problems that had defined the rest of my life—all of them starting from that fateful morning when I’d decided to follow Hiccup into the forest to console him. To make sure he didn’t die for something that wasn’t his fault, despite my Chief’s claims.

 

What a terrible mistake that had been, I decided, watching the coals flicker to life with a weak, deep orange flame that promised to grow into an inferno. What a horrible error it was to trust him when it became clear that he had formed a bond with the Night Fury. Right then was when I should have done what Snotlout had done, once Hiccup had fled from the storage shed—

 

No, I realized, halting in my movements. Hiccup had turned far before that. I should have noticed the day Tuffnut nearly fell into the cove and Hiccup managed to convince the Night Fury to hold off, if only for a second. Instead I waited, telling myself lies until I could no longer hide beneath them. They had shifted from comforting to crushing, and now I was struggling under the weight.

 

The door opened again, bringing in some frigid air that promised either rain or hail. The winter was approaching rapidly with the assurance of hard times. The fire went out again.

 

Bergthora returned to the kitchen, rekindled the fire, and threw out the failed dough. Apparently it had only been her daughter again, asking for another weapon. When I asked which, Bergthora simply waved it off and began giving me instructions on how to properly cook bread as I gathered all the ingredients together.

 

We worked in silence for hours, with the occasional customer coming in to buy something. I couldn’t help but wonder if my fate had sealed.

 

* * *

It was at sundown that the others came into visit. Ruffnut was covered in mud and her brother trailed behind, dead on his feet. Fishlegs’ hands were calloused and sore and Snotlout slunk in the back of their pod. I smiled when they walked in, all grins to finally have the gang back together. At least I had my friends.

 

“Hey,” I greeted, moving over to the front counter where the day’s goods were presented in little cubbies behind it.

 

“Can I have that?!” Ruffnut exclaimed, pointing at a large loaf of bread that was among the few that _didn’t_ look burnt.

 

Her brother pushed her aside. “Gimme!” He cried, clearing the counter in one smooth leap and bolting towards said item.

 

“No!” I snapped, grabbing his arm and yanking him away just before his grubby fingers got hold of it. “You have to pay for that,” I placed my hands on my hips and leaned in as if I were telling him a secret. “And just for that? You gotta pay double.”

 

Tuffnut’s eyes widened. “B-but,” he stammered, looking back up at the bread. By the adoration in his eyes, it seemed he was under the impression that it was glowing with the light of the gods. “It’s _beautiful!_ ”

 

“Alright.” I smirked and flipped my hair. “Triple.”

 

Ruffnut and Snotlout both burst out laughing as the male twin dropped to his knees in mock agony, reaching towards the cubby hole as if it were the only thing between him and death.

 

A slight creaking of wood signaled Bergthora approaching, expecting customers. She frowned at the group of dirty teenagers standing in her shop and then narrowed her eyes at Tuffnut. “Mind tellin’ me why exactly you’re back there?” She deadpanned.

 

Tuffnut paled and scrambled back over the counter with much less grace than the first time around. I turned to her and said, “He just wants that loaf of bread real bad.”

 

She studied him and smirked. “Make sure you make him pay double.” With that, she turned and went back to cleaning the kitchen up.

 

“You know, there’s something ethically wrong with that,” Fishlegs commented, earning a snicker from Ruffnut. Tuffnut grudgingly began digging through his pocket for some coins.

 

Snotlout stepped out from behind the other three. “Hey, make him pay quadruple,” he said with an easy grin. Tuffnut gaped at him in horror and wildly shook his head, but was given no attention. For a brief moment, Snotlout and I held eye contact, and his easy-going façade fell apart as easily as loose snow tumbling down a mountain. His worried green eyes begged the question: _Are we okay?_

 

I forced a smile and turned to Tuffnut. “You heard him. Quadruple.”

                              

Tuffnut threw his head back and moaned. I held a hand out until he gave me the ridiculously high amount (which was actually even higher than quadruple, since he assumed the loaf was worth a price it wasn’t) and then tossed the coins up and down in my palm to admire them. As slow as possible, I turned and retrieved the bread, only making it halfway to the counter before my friend lost his patience and snatched it from me.

 

It made my stomach clench at how fast he scarfed the entire damn thing down. From the expressions of the others, I wasn’t alone.

 

Ruffnut shook the disgust off and handed me a silver coin. She pointed at a little burnt piece of bread about the size of my palm. It was in the ‘reject’ pile, which I had been about to throw out moments before. “Mind if I have that?” A sly grin slid across her face.

 

“It’s on the house!” I exclaimed, tossing her both her money and dinner. She waved it mockingly at her flabbergasted brother and leaned against the counter.

 

“So…how’s breadmaking?” She asked with a small frown.

 

I groaned and hung my head. “Horrible. I messed up almost everything I tried to bake.”

 

“Well, statistically speaking,” Fishlegs piped, “beginners always have a harder time…” he trailed off at my glare. “Sorry.”

 

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I just…” With a frustrated grunt, I slammed my fist on the table. “None of us were meant for this!”

 

Ruffnut hoisted herself up onto the counter and crossed her arms, slumping with a huff. “Tell me about it,” she growled. “You think it’s permanent?” She put her hand on her cheek, eyes downcast. She’d meant to sound casual and uninterested, but the slight tremor in her voice betrayed her fear.

 

Nobody said anything. Tuffnut held his elbow with his other hand and shifted back and forth. Fishlegs tapped his fingers together. Ruffnut and I remained statue-still, and Snotlout hung his head. Five warriors, pushed down by one mistake by a single person in their group.

 

This was _not_ fair.

 

“I’m not sure,” I said, fist clenching. “But I’m going to find out.”

 

* * *

“Astrid, you know your punishment.”

 

I stood my ground. “I know, Chief,” I said. “But it was my fault that nobody said anything. _I_ was the one who stopped them.” I stepped into his house at his signal and held my head high. I had to look confident in my reasoning. If I seemed indecisive and unsure of myself, then he would see me as nothing more than a whiny teenager complaining in hopes of having things ‘fixed’ to her way.

 

Chief Stoick stopped pacing in his living room and held his forehead in his palm, shaking his head. But he didn’t deny it; Snotlout had informed me earlier that he had told the Chief that it had been a “group decision” to not tell him about Hiccup. Which meant that I really did have a chance.

 

“If anything…I should be the only one punished,” I confessed. “They just did as I said.”

 

My leader turned around and gave me a hard stare. “They’re not sheep,” he said. “They had every reason to come to me and decided on their own not to. My decision stands.”

 

Clenching my fists, I protested, “At first we thought Hiccup was still on our side, and for a while he _was._ But—“

 

“No ‘but’s!” He interrupted. “You had no reason to keep the Night Furies hidden away like that. I understand the need to hide him in the beginning. But when he turned back when you and Snotlout went to that shed, you _still_ did nothing. And you did _that_ because of your _pride_ instead of thinking of the safety of Berk. Had you told us when you discovered them, then they would have not had the chance to grow strong enough to escape! We would have avoided this entire mess!” He took in another breath to continue speaking, but then stopped and turned away.

 

I ducked my head, gritting my teeth. “It’s not our fault that they escaped.”

 

“No, it isn’t. You aren’t being punished for that,” Chief Stoick said. “You and your friends betrayed our village when you let Hiccup steal without saying anything. You betrayed our village again when you let him deceive you and stole food for him.” I cringed with every word. “And you betrayed our village when you knew that the Night Fury had a weakness that we could exploit, but instead decided to say nothing even as we sent _hunting party_ after _hunting party_ after them. Do you know how we captured them?”

 

I shook my head, having lost the ability to speak. Never before had I seen him so angry at anyone but…Hiccup.

 

“We trapped them,” Chief Stoick said. “We drove them to an edge and then forced them into a cave. And we did that _because_ Snotlout told us their weaknesses. Had we not known that the Night Fury couldn’t fly, then we would have surrounded them and charged him. Do you know how many people would have been killed if we’d done that!? Do you have any idea how devastating that would have been!?”

 

I couldn’t find my voice. So I stood there like an idiot, mouth slightly parted, eyes bulging, shrinking away.

 

His face filled with anger and pain, and he advanced on me far closer than I felt comfortable with. “Answer me!”

 

I was shaking, overwhelmed. But I forced it back. “…A lot,” I said, my voice tiny and coming out as a hoarse croak. I wanted to punch something; a warrior does not cry! Especially when their leader is speaking to them! It didn’t matter how harsh he was; he was _right._

 

“You’re right,” he said, his voice much more composed after his outburst. “It is true that many people were injured when those two escaped. But far more would have lost their _lives_ if Snotlout hadn’t come to me!” Chief Stoick continued. “ _That_ is why all of you are being punished, even him. All of you held out on us so you could prove yourselves as warriors, or because it made your pride swell. And in doing so, you could have killed someone!”

 

Our Chief rubbed his head again, huffing. “I _am_ sorry that you lost your warrior apprenticeship, Astrid. I know how much it meant to you. But I can’t let something like that go unpunished. Do you understand?” He looked me in the eye, seeming for all the world like he just wanted to lie down and never get up again.

 

I hung my head and whispered, “Yes.”

 

* * *

Compared to waking up on a cart or in a cage, coming to soaking wet on a cliff was almost…welcoming.

 

I didn’t wake with a start, as Toothless often did. Instead, consciousness drifted over me in a soothing caress, like a gentle mother waking her ill child in the night. I was cold and my open wounds were stinging in the sea-salt wind and spray, but it was so easy to push aside. I could just lay there in that half-dream haze, cushioned by grass and the warm body of Toothless next to me, for the entire day.

 

I took a deep breath, wading back into reality as slow as possible.

 

That was when Toothless decided that sleep was for wimps.

 

“Hiccup, I _know_ you’re awake!” I moaned, flipping on my side and covering my face with a wing. He grabbed an ear that was sticking out with sheathed teeth and began yanking at it. “I thought we broke this lazy habit a long time ago!” He growled, voice muffled. I tried my best not to laugh.

 

“No!” I whined, curling up into an even tighter ball. “I’m sleeping in today!”

 

The insistent tugging stopped. I peeked an eye out over a wing to see Toothless standing beside me, his expression unreadable. Unlike me, his injuries had all scabbed over, although he still was breathing unevenly. He gave me a small smile and said, “…alright. I’m going to go hunting—why don’t you make a bed of coals to keep you warm?” He pushed the very wet ground with one leg for emphasis, forcing water to leak out of the grass below his paw.

 

I scrunched my face up, unknotting my limbs and shakily getting to my feet. “Wait, I’ll go with you.” How I would help I didn’t know, but we didn’t know for sure if this island was as uninhabited as we thought it was.

 

Toothless shook his head, eyes narrowing. “No. Those scrapes aren’t going to heal if you keep stretching them and tearing them open. If I can’t find anything by midday then I’ll come back. You need to rest.”

 

I glanced at the eastern sky and scowled. The sun was just drifting over the horizon! “But—“

 

Toothless lowered his head so that he was at my eye level. “ _Please_ , Hiccup.”  


Oh gods, those eyes were so huge and adorable and _ugh!_ I held my glare for an extra second and then hung my head in disappointment, huffing. “Fine.”

 

Toothless butted me in the forehead, which would have been slightly nicer if I’d been expecting it. “Thank you.” He crouched and launched himself towards the forest, legs pounding on the ground in a lethal blur. “I’ll be back soon!” He looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Probably!”

 

I beamed. “I’ll be here! Maybe!”

 

Toothless stumbled and was within earshot just long enough to hear me laugh and throw a dirty look my way. I continued smiling, even as he disappeared within the underbrush.

 

I _really_ didn’t want to just lay here, though. I looked up and down the cliffside beach of the island and found nothing but shrubs, stones, and wildgrasses. I spotted a particular species that I recognized from one of the many outings that Dad and I had gone on…

 

_Dad._

 

Shaking my head, I growled to myself, “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.”

 

Gods, I could still hear the _screams_ —

 

The distraction I so desperately needed came in the form of a gust of ocean-borne wind nearly knocking me off my feet. I turned towards the salty air with a grimace, taking in the endless expanse of blue. It looked so calm, and yet, hours ago, the danger of falling in and drowning had been nauseatingly real. My heart skipped a beat looking out over it; I had no doubt that, the next time I took flight over the sea, I would be more than a little nervous.

 

Alright, scratch that. This was _not_ a distraction. Thinking about drowning because I was running away from boats that were probably sent out to kill me wasn’t the most relaxing activity in the world.

 

I slumped, but then perked up. “Ugh, why didn’t I think of this earlier?” Getting back to my feet, I hobbled on stiff legs over to the cliff and stood a short distance from the edge. I wasn’t exactly facing Berk, but I could still scan a very large distance.

 

I heard an echoed howl, a recreation from my mind; another dragon being killed in the Ring.

 

On that happy note, I began my watch for my father. And, gods damn me, after everything that he had done and allowed…I still hoped to see the sails of his ships on the horizon. I knew it would mean death and torture—especially for Toothless—but a tiny, naïve part of me was still convinced that if I tried hard enough, then maybe…

 

Sitting down with a sigh, I hunched over and draped my wings around my body for warmth. “Who am I kidding?” I mumbled, pressing my cheek into the upper joint of my left wing as if it were a hand. “He was going to kill me.” The thought sent a shiver down my spine. I felt a yawning pit deep in my chest, the sting of abandonment still fresh. Not for the first time, I wondered why in the world it was so easy for him to just push me away like rotten meat.

 

I suppose an entire lifetime of being the Worst Viking Ever, son of the Best Chief Ever, would do that.

 

I never would have guessed that my mistakes would cost the lives of dozens. So many innocent dragons—sentient, thoughtful creatures—wrapped up in a war that they had no choice of participating in were murdered. I had played a massive role in all of their deaths. I knew that it wasn’t completely my fault; Toothless _had_ gotten through my thick skull on that topic long ago. But that didn’t stop the guilt.

 

For a while I stared out at the ocean, my mind simply replaying the events of the previous day. This time yesterday, I was trapped and coming to a gradual acceptance of my death. It was almost surreal, like Toothless and I had always lived on this island and that I’d dreamed everything—my human life, my human family, my human murderers—inside my head, a horrible nightmare that had been whisked away by reality’s harsh wakeup call.

 

I looked down at my chest, legs, and wings, where my scales had been rubbed raw by my bindings, and closed my eyes.

 

Some time later—I can’t be too sure, since I dozed on and off—my thoughts drifted onto the others: Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut. I had seen a glimpse of the first two when Toothless and I were escaping, with the former looking so full of rage she was sickened, and the latter almost thankful. At least I could understand Astrid’s anger—I _had_ betrayed her trust, after all—but with Snotlout I was completely lost.

 

When I had apologized, he’d been so confused. Then he had gone back to hating even more than Dad, it seemed. But for that briefest moment he’d been concerned for me, almost afraid.

 

I dug my claw around in the dirt around me, all but giving up on my sentry duty. I drew little swirls and zigzags. Tipping my head to the side, I tried to channel magic into my claw, as I had done with my legs to push the cage doors open.

 

Nothing happened. For some reason I couldn’t understand, I could only strengthen my _entire_ body with my magic, not single parts.

 

Slumping, I brushed the patterns away with the back of my paw and stood up. Taking in a deep breath and filtering gas into my mouth (which _still_ felt weird to me), I circled around with a stream of fire until there was a big enough bed for me to lie on. I settled down onto it, holding my wings and tail close for warmth, and looked out to sea again.

 

Gods…I could still hear the screams…

 

* * *

 

I awoke some time later to a gentle prodding in my side. Toothless asked me if I was awake and then quickly once he found that I’d already been asleep in the first place. He padded around my side in an attempt to shield me from the ocean spray and then lied down next to me. I remembered when he would have rather been captured than do that. Back then, everything wasn’t so confusing and screwed up; Toothless was the evil dragon that had turned me into a dragon, and I…

 

…I was the one who’d shot him down. The elusive Night Fury, the dragon that preferred to attack buildings instead of people to protect the brainwashed dragons around him. The offspring of lightning and death itself, a species I was now a member of. My chest tightened, and I buried my head into the crook of his neck.

 

He was shaking all over.

 

* * *

 We were eating in general silence when it finally occurred to me.

 

I gasped around my hunk of flesh, eyes widening and leaping to my feet. Toothless’ reaction was about the same. “Woah!” I cried, staring at my friend as if he’d just grown two heads. He looked around wildly and then scrunched his face up in confusion as I stammered, “How—how—where—!?”

 

Toothless stared at me for the longest time. “…What?”

 

I pointed at his tail. “Your _tailfin!_ ”

 

He lifted his tail and wiggled the two perfect rudders on the end and gave me a sideways glance. “Wait,” he began, “are you saying this is the first time you’ve noticed?” A wide grin grew across his face as I struggled to find coherent sentences, feeling my cheeks warm up in a fierce blush. It didn’t help that the stupid dragon burst out into such loud laughter that he _upset the birds into flying away._

 

“You…didn’t notice…even when we were… _flying!?_ ” Toothless shrieked, rolling on the ground.

 

Oh, great. I was about 200% sure he would _never_ let me get over this. “I was busy surviving,” I grumbled into a piece of meat, chewing sullenly with drooped ears and frills. Which was true; I’d been too focused on getting away from our deaths to ask my best friend how he’d overcome his handicap all the sudden. This only seemed to make Toothless even _more_ amused, to the point that he started choking on his portion of the deer.

 

“Great Dragon of the Sun,” he wheezed, rolling back onto his paws and standing up shakily. “Sometimes I worry about you,” he snorted, shaking his head. His eyes met mine—

 

—and for the first time since we were captured, the link came up. A torrent of happiness and relief bowled me over, surprise quick on their heels, all pining for attention like toddlers trying to impress their parents.

 

I heard Toothless’ voice, so faint I might as well have been listening to the tail end of a long echo. I couldn’t quite make out the words, though, but the emotion behind them—bafflement and worry—was as clear as if he’d just gone straight out and told me how he felt.

 

My face wrinkled up in confusion, mirroring Toothless’, and it fell away.  “Huh,” I summed our general thoughts up.

 

Toothless gave a wry smile, shrugging. “I may know a lot more about magic than you, but that I can’t explain. I’ve never heard your complex thoughts before in that connection, although I have come rather close when it is stronger.” He tipped his head to the side, eyes narrowed. “There’s something about that—it’s not the kind of magic that I use. I’ve never seen it before, but it’s…familiar.” He continued staring at me, almost expectantly, and I flushed.

 

“Well, don’t expect me to know!” I cried. “I didn’t even know magic until yesterday.”

 

“And look how far you’ve come. Maybe today you’ll figure out you have four functional legs!” Toothless applauded with an eyeroll. I threw a piece of entrails at him, which he promptly snapped out of the air and allowed to dangle out of his mouth for an unnecessarily long time.

 

Ugh, ew.

 

Ignoring my very obvious repulsion, Toothless licked his bloody paws and explained, “There was a Flame-Skin in my cage. He knew I couldn’t fly without my tailfin, so he sacrificed himself by using all of his strength to regrow it.” He dropped his paw, his gaze becoming distant, staring at nothing. “His eyes were…”

 

He grew very still.

 

I understood all too well. I began to get up to comfort him, but he shook his head and gave me a thin smile. “He wanted me to make sure the both of us survived, and so I’ve done my best to honor his wish…” his fake expression crumbled and he hunched over, trying to hide a forlorn expression I hadn’t seen since he’d thought I’d left him. “It…it wasn’t _fair_.”

 

This was like his version of my Snotlout. He looked so broken, like he felt he’d done this dragon a great wrong. I walked over to him and butted my head against his neck. “I know. But like you said, you honored him. I’m sure he’d be happy.” I looked over at his healed appendage. “So it’s permanent?” I asked, my limbs stiffening at the thought that it wasn’t.

 

Toothless’ smile grew. “Yes,” he said, and a little bit louder, “it is.”

 

Oh, thank the gods! “Yes!” I began bouncing around him in a happy dance, careful not to smash the deer in my celebration. “Something awesome finally happened to us! It _worked out!_ ” I cheered, loud enough to make a flock of birds fly away…again. Toothless might have laughed or even given a half-hearted “woo!”, but I was too busy initiating an interpretive dance to notice. We weren’t stuck again!

 

“You seem more excited than I am!” Toothless gasped through laughter that I was just now noticing.

 

I faced him, bouncing giddily. “Well, yeah! The whole reason that mess with the Ring happened was because you couldn’t fly…now we don’t have to worry about it happening again anymore! And you can fly now!”

 

Of course, out of thoughtless, impulsive afterthought, I added, “And now we can do something about the Queen!”

 

Toothless’ grin faded, and I mentally slapped myself. We’d just had this conversation hours ago, and it had ended up in a massive argument that had left both of us feeling less than okay. Staring at the ground, I said, “…sorry. It’s just…I hate being…”

 

“I know.” I jerked my head up to see the Night Fury smiling, albeit a little strained. “I understand how you felt, and yesterday I acted very…defensively. While I was out hunting this deer, though,” he gestured at the slain stag, “I couldn’t help but put myself in his scales. Even without flight, I was a gigantic, overpowered creature that this deer was defenseless against, and killing it was such a simple task that I’m convinced _you_ could have done it.” I pouted, and he chuckled. “The others are just like this deer. They don’t know what’s happening, and they fall prey just as easily as this fragile creature.” To accentuate this, he placed a paw on one of the deer’s legs and pushed down. A piece of bone snapped out of its skin.

 

He looked up at me, eyes glinting in malice that I had not seen in a long time. “We have to kill her.”

 

Anxiety began to well up in my chest. Planning the assassination of a near-god was no happy task…and yet, I still smiled. “Okay…cool. How do you think we should do it?”

 

Toothless closed his eyes in brief concentration and then shrugged. “I’m not sure. But right now, we need to wait for my wing to heal,” he extended his right wing, showcasing a gigantic hole in the membrane that nearly stretched all the way between the two fingers it was nestled in, “and for you to, as well.” This time he broadly circled his paw in the air, making me painfully aware of the numerous wounds I had sustained.

 

Nodding, I said, “Alright. How many days will it take?” I couldn’t keep my gaze from flickering to his wing. It looked…awful. There was something nauseating about how there was a _hole in his body._ I cringed, averting my eyes to the gutted deer.

 

Okay, that didn’t help.

 

“I’ll give it a day or two,” Toothless said, either oblivious to my wandering eyes or just not in the mood to call me out on my constant worrying. In a much more cheerful tone, he said, “Alright, let’s finish this deer before the crows try to pounce it!”

 

We finished the deer in about a half hour and, for the first time in what felt like forever, were faced with the vulgar fiend most commonly known as boredom. I started a game of tag, but without a cove to bounce around on and the advantage of being able to fly, it was laughably easy for Toothless to catch up with me on his longer legs. Afterwards he suggested that we take a nap and then began a monologue on why exactly it wasn’t a waste of time when I asked.

 

After sleeping for an hour or two, I can’t say that it was as glorious as Toothless described it to be.

 

We sat around discussing random subjects for a little while before I suddenly realized: why don’t we explore the island? Toothless, as starved for entertainment as I was, had agreed immediately, and we’d set off into the forest together.

 

Which led us to this.

 

“Ugh,” Toothless groaned, staring down the cliffside that we’d come across, where the ocean scraping away at the break in the island looked like a little creek on all sides. The island was big enough to make the drop heart-stopping while also blocking out any view of the sea, making it appear as though an underground river had been exposed by the strike of Mjölnir. “I _really_ don’t want to strain my wing any more than it already is.” He extended it and observed the scabbing puncture, shaking his head with finality.

 

I _so_ did not want to stop here and go and sit on the coast again. “Maybe there’s another way around…?” I leaned over the edge and searched in both directions, but even my super-dragon-eyes couldn’t find a bridge. Not that Toothless would want to walk on one after his last experience with them.

 

Unfurling my wings, I said, “Here, let me fly around and see if it connects somewhere.”

 

Toothless snorted, showing just how much he doubted that that would happen. “Don’t take too long.” I leaped into the gorge, allowing myself to fall into it, and then caught its updraft in my wings to take me above the treeline. “And be careful!” Toothless shouted, his exasperating tone daring me to go ahead and do something stupid.

 

From above, the trees were just thin enough to see through, which finally made me realize just how impressively _huge_ the gap in the island was.  The trees looked almost like mountains and spread far, and yet the large majority of the cut in the island was clearly visible. It dawned on me that finding a spot Toothless could glide over—even from the top of a tree—would be no easy task.

 

Keeping just out of reach of the tallest branches, I scanned the environment for a lull, a natural bridge, a taller-than-ordinary tree. There was an imperfection in the forest cover a little ways from the border: a lack of pines centered in one spot. While I knew it was too far away to be of any help, it drew me in; it was strange how there was just a random absence of foliage. Tucking my wings in, I dove through the stinging needles and thumped onto the ground.

 

The cause of the gap was a small clearing, where trees had been cut clean through at the base and eroded so much that their rings had begun to fade into a smooth off-white. Rooted in between all of them was a cottage.

 

It was so old that all the windows were covered in grime, impossible to see through. Vines had hiked all the way up one wall and were straining to engulf the entire roof, making it appear as though a house had been built into a hill of leaves. Moss had taken over every crack in the exterior, and the wooden door had rotted away so much that it was leaning against the doorframe. Pieces of stone were scattered about, fallen from a chimney that was blackened on the top—lightning had struck it, maybe?

 

My body refused to move; even though I knew it was uninhabited, the trickling suspicion that someone was in there about to attack me screamed for me to get out of here. I tipped my head to the side, taking a step closer to try to get a better look at the house. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t quite put any words to it.

 

Then it hit me. This lonely, abandoned house looked exactly like the ones on Berk.

 

I fled.

 

* * *

In the end, Toothless and I couldn’t find a way across the island’s slash and returned to the shore that we had landed on. The walk was longer than usual; Toothless seemed distracted and lagged, his eyes glossy, ears and frills pinned against his head. He wasn’t so much stumbling after me as he was blindly wobbling behind the little brown thing in front of him, unaware of his surroundings. When I asked him what was wrong, he shook it off and returned to normal, although there seemed to be a buffer between him and the real world. He was quiet and unresponsive.

 

The sun had set when we returned and the stars seemed brighter than normal. Toothless tried to burn a coal bed and then made a show of changing his mind. I lied down next to him and watched him as he fell away, quivering with an internal earthquake that refused to secede as the moon rolled its lethargic path across the sky.

 

* * *

I woke up by myself.

 

The sun’s rays pierced my eyelids to the point that it almost felt blinding. I opened my eyes to an impossibly bright sky swathed in swollen clouds and a sun that was already past noon.

 

Toothless had curled up against me, burrowing his head underneath mine and shuddering as if he’d been scared senseless. My stomach dropped at how warm he was.

 

“Toothless,” I called, poking him in the forehead with my nose. I shook my legs a little, making his head bob up and down. A little louder, “Toothless?”

 

The Night Fury did not stir. His scent was overshadowed by a sour, omnipresent musk that I had caught whiffs of earlier but given no thought to. Staring my comatose best friend, I wished I’d at least asked.

 

I shook him some more, yelled his name, upset the birds again—no response. When that failed I stood up and jumped around him, pushing his limp sides and head, as if disturbing his position would fix him. He didn’t even twitch.

 

“Don’t panic…don’t panic…,” I chanted to myself, pacing around Toothless and scrutinizing every single visible wound on his body. None of them looked infected. I couldn’t tell which one, if any, was the culprit. I poked him again, even tried licking his forehead. All that did was remind just how much he was burning up, making my tongue feel as if I’d eaten fire.

 

He needed to be cooled down, _now!_

 

I sprinted to a nearby bush with large, bushy leaves and snatched half of the branches in my teeth. With a soft grunt I launched myself into the air, spun, and dove right off the cliff, narrowly avoiding smacking into a jagged rock sticking out of the ocean like a watch tower. I skimmed over the water and dipped the plant into the frigid water. A strong gust nearly toppled me over and I yelped, struggling to pull myself back up. I flapped my wings hard, sending the tips underneath the waves, and fought the horrible raking winds all the way back up to the coast.

 

By the time I landed I was out of breath, but I still placed the cool leaves on Toothless’ head and neck. I sat down and rested until my legs were able to hold my body weight, then repeated the process twice.

 

My body did not appreciate the sudden exertion, and when I tried to take flight the third time, pain laced down my spine and limbs faster than a viper. I crashed and limped back over to the ill dragon, slumping into the ground like a warrior whose friend had just been slaughtered in front of him. I extended my wing over Toothless’ back and curled my tail around him, sleeping only when it became unbearable to watch him any longer.

 

* * *

The next morning Toothless was no better. I’d changed my lousy attempts to cool him down several times and flown around the island to see if there were any snow or ice deposits, but his body temperature never dropped. For a while I sat next to him, wracking my brain for better ideas, and wondered how strange it was, how this would happen now of all times, and how warmth could be both comforting and terrifying, but never at the same time. Eventually I picked myself up and got back to work.

 

Even though the sun was just rising, I still trotted along the edge of the forest in search of bigger leaves that I could maybe cup water in. After just two days, I was starting to feel dehydrated; I could only imagine what a lack of water would do to a severely ill dragon. A rather large bush caught my attention and I drew closer to inspect it, only to droop in disappointment when it became clear that its leaves would not hold water when being carried by flying dragon. No leaves would, I realized, but I still had to try. I wasn’t going to just lie down and give up.

 

With a soft snort I returned to my patrol of the border. The emeralds and blue-greens hidden beneath a thick coat of shadow provided no solution or comfort, only accentuating my complete lack of knowledge on what to do. I was completely helpless— _again_. In frustration I kicked a stone and watched it sail through the air.

 

It passed right through the head of an extremely large canine as if it wasn’t even there. I stopped in my tracks, unable to comprehend what had just happened. How had it even gotten there without me noticing? I had been hyper-focusing on the forest for hours, and I hadn’t even heard a twig snap or a rustling of foliage.

 

The dog tipped its head to the side, crimson fur dulled. It receded one step into the forest, black eyes locked on me. I took a hesitant step towards it; if it thought it could make easy prey of Toothless, I would give it a run for its money. I lowered my body into an unsteady crouch, my ears and frills flattening against my head as a low rumble rose from my throat.

 

The dog barked once and twisted, darting away from the forest. Seconds later another one burst from the undergrowth, much smaller but swifter.

 

They were heading for Toothless.

 

“ _No!_ ” I demanded, giving chase. My feet pounded the earth in steady thunderbeats, but no matter how fast I sprinted, they always seemed to be a step ahead of me. Toothless came into view, lookingexactly like a tiny black pebble washed ashore, and I was certain that it was over, that the animals were going to get to him, tear his neck out and leave me desolately stranded and alone.

 

Right as they reached him, I let loose a roar of outrage and horror. They ran right through him— _right freaking through him_ —and continued on their merry way. I faltered, stopping beside the unconscious form of my friend, mouth agape. The creatures did not look back, smears of blood against the distant western horizon. I squinted, sniffing at the air and confirming that there had been no scent left behind.

 

“…Fenrir and…?” I wondered aloud, and then shook my head. Toothless would have been dead if my suspicions were correct. “Spirits, then?” I asked nobody in particular.

 

Toothless did not respond. The apparitions were little dots now, finally ending their flight and facing towards us. I couldn’t help but glance down at Toothless in hope that he could provide some input, but instead was met with his shaking, his uneven breathing, and the heat radiating off of him like a volcano.

 

Craning my neck, I glanced up at where the spirits had—and still—stood. Then back down at Toothless.

 

And then opened my wings and stormed into the air. The fake dogs waited for me to get close enough to make out their individual differences before setting out perpendicular to the coast. Without a second thought, I swerved midair to chase after them.

 

They ran faster than me again—which, considering I was flying through a dense forest, was not very fast at all, but was still impressive nonetheless. As we raced, the forest became a blur of deep green interrupted only by the bloodied fur of the ghosts, the only sounds being their feet hitting the ground in time with my wingbeats. At some point we came upon the ridge and I drew up short, a strange panic flooding into me. The spirits did not stop, though—they didn’t even pause at the enormous gap that even an experienced Night Fury couldn’t glide over—and jumped across as if it were nothing.

 

I flung myself after them, the unending fear still a very strong presence, and forced myself to catch up.

 

They stopped at the little clearing with the little house. The smaller one bolted through a bush and faded away, and a few seconds later the larger shared the same fate.

 

I crouched just inside the cover of the forest, shaking. The building stared back at me in condescension.

 

“Okay,” I whispered to myself, bouncing on my feet. “Okay.” I took one step into the clearing and grimaced, and then another, and another, each movement more painful than the last. The walk to the bush felt longer than it should have as I trudged towards the abandoned cottage. When I got to the bush I squeezed my eyes shut, sending a prayer that I hadn’t just followed two hallucinations for nothing, and opened my eyes.

 

Little blue flowers were sprouting within the leaves of the bush. I sniffed them and flinched away at the horrible smell. It was like sweat and dead things mixed together and multiplied by twelve!

 

“Ugh!” I cried, clenching my eyes and wildly swinging my head to dislodge the horrible scent from my nose. “That smells bad enough to wake the dead!”

 

My eyes snapped open.

 

* * *

Carrying the flowers back to Toothless was, in one word, unpleasant. Halfway back I had to pause to hold down vomit, taking in slow, deep breaths and thinking of pleasant-smelling things, like rain and roasted meat and Astrid…

 

Nonetheless, I was up and moving a short time later.

 

When I finally returned to the coast, the sun was about a fifth of the way into the sky, casting faint warmth onto the island. I galloped over to Toothless and all but shoved the water-blue flowers up his nose. His eyebrows creased and he shifted a little, flexing his claws and scrunching his face. I called out to him as loud as my voice would allow (and somehow _not_ startling the birds), shaking his shoulder so violently that it probably did more harm than good.

 

Toothless mumbled and his eyes flickered open, yellowed in the weak light. His eyes drifted back and forth before finally settling on me, half-lidded and fluttering. He sat up on shaking legs, bringing his head to about my height, and blinked several times. “Huh?”

 

Yes! _Yes!_ “ _Toothless!_ ” I screamed, leaping into the air and wrapping my arms around his neck. Which turned out to be quite an enormous mistake and sendt both of us toppling to the ground. I squeaked in surprise and got off of him before I crushed his throat, but still couldn’t contain myself as I pranced around the dazed Night Fury in childish glee. “You’re awake! Thank gods!”

 

Toothless made a noise that was about ninety percent confusion and ten percent annoyance. “Since when are you an early riser?” He grumbled, slightly out of breath as he rolled onto his side and rose to his feet unsteadily. His legs wobbled and he quickly sat down, something akin to shame crossing his face for a split second, and then glanced east. “Not that…I’m complaining,” he wheezed.

 

Instead of responding I opted for rearing up to feel his temperature, pressing my cheek against his. He felt like a furnace.

 

“Hiccup?” Toothless began, wary. “What are you doing?”

 

I sat down in front of him. “Toothless, you’ve been unconscious for an entire day.” He balked, eyes growing as wide as the moon. “I, uh…I found these flowers,” I said, gesturing at the nasty things lying on the ground, “and I put them on your nose to wake you up.”

 

Impossibly, Toothless’ eyes got even wider. He scrambled to his feet and arched his back, hissing, “ _Eel flowers!_ ”

 

“Eel flowers?” I asked flatly, raising an eyebrow.

 

Toothless nodded vigorously, extending a wing and forcing me away from them. “Yes. Like eels, they’re extremely toxic and smell _terrible._ ”

 

“Well, I’m glad they smell bad, or you wouldn’t—wait, what?”

 

**PAGREBREAK AGAIN LOOK AT ME GO COPYING _THE ROAD_ UGH**

 

Despite still being sick, Toothless wasted no time in lecturing me on “the dangers of putting strange plants in your mouth, you stupid fishbone”. After a good few minutes, I interrupted to tell him that I should probably wash my mouth out, and spent a lovely time looking for a source of water that wasn’t thousands of meters below the coast. Eventually I came upon a small creek and guided Toothless to it, wrapping my wing around him and supporting his weight as best as I could. Even though I was still horribly sore and pain laced down my limbs in random intervals, I knew he had it worse.

                                       

We walked in silence for quite a while. I kept on glancing over at Toothless, but his eyes were locked on the ground in front of him, wary of unexpected dips and upturned roots and the like.

 

Eventually, though, he spoke up. “Hiccup?” He asked, as if we were sleeping and he wanted to know if I was still awake. I raised my ears and frills to show I was listening, and he seemed to pause to collect himself. “I’m so sorry.”

 

I stopped, giving him an odd look. “For what?” I said with an upturned eyebrow.

 

Toothless hung his head. “I thought I was fine, but it turned out my strength wasn’t enough. You needed me and had no idea what to do, and I just _slept_ all day…”

 

“Toothless!” I exclaimed. “It’s not your fault you got sick!” I nudged him playfully, but he shook his head. With a grunt he started walking again, refusing to look anywhere but his feet, ears and wings drooped.

 

“Had you not lucked out onto those eel flowers,” he whispered, “I could have died, and right after…” he didn’t finish the sentence, but I knew anyways. _And right after your father and his tribe murdered thirty-one dragons almost killed us both._

 

We finished the rest of the walk without speaking. Toothless couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief when we came upon the creek and dunked his head into it, gulping down a _very_ large, most-likely-unhealthy amount of water. He still looked like a child that had broken their great-great-grandfather’s emerald-encrusted and very expensive sword.

 

“I’m not mad,” I finally said. It felt like such a useless thing to say.

 

Toothless raised his head and shook it to dislodge random droplets of water. “I know,” he smiled at me, “but I still feel guilty.”

 

“You dumb lizard,” I teased, slapping him with my tail on his ear. He bit me. I let loose a scream that was _totally_ manly.

 

While I nursed my nonexistent injury, Toothless headbanged his way back into the creek. I shook my head, wondering if he would inflate and pop if he drank too much. But at least he was up, and seemed to feel better with each passing moment. When he eventually finished, I said, “Hey, why stop now when you can drink all of it?”

 

Grinning, the dragon pushed his paw into the water, flinging it out towards me. I yelped and narrowed my eyes, lowering myself to the creek and filling my mouth until my cheeks extended. Then I got up and started walking towards Toothless.

 

“No!” He cried, but he was too late! I sprayed all of it right into his face, smirking at the resulting unamused expression. “Yes, that is _exactly_ where I was going with that,” he huffed.

 

I shrugged. “You asked for it.”

 

“Yes—and speaking of not asking for things,” Toothless perked up suddenly, “how did you know to use those flowers?”

 

I frowned. “Well…it’s just…” I sighed, shaking my head. “Don’t laugh, but two spirits that looked like dogs led me to them.”

 

Toothless blinked several times. “That’s…unexpected,” was the only response he could seem to think of. “Care to elaborate?”

 

I did. I retold how I’d first seen the bigger one, how their eyes looked like pitch black holes, and how they’d run faster than a dragon and gone straight through him as if he were the spirit. I tried my best to describe their peculiar bloodstained fur that seemed to glint in the darkest shadows, how they ran over thin air and vanished without even a little puff of smoke to mark their presence. The entire time Toothless leaned towards me intently, soaking in all the information. It made me think of how such a story would have been completely dismissed in Berk.

 

When I had finished, Toothless scanned our surroundings as if he expected our benevolent onlookers to be standing right there waiting for an introduction. He looked spooked. “Spirits are not to be troubled with,” he said, much quieter than normal. “They probably want us off their island. If we overstay their welcome…” he shook his head. “It is uncanny how they seemed to have resembled the ones we saw before we were captured.”

 

I nodded. I was all for leaving the island of creepy abandoned cottages and spirits. “But where will we go?”

 

Toothless cringed. “I know you disagree but—don’t give me that look! I may be awake, but some eel flowers and water aren’t going to heal my illness, and definitely not this.” He pulled his wing around and opened it, staring at me through the ever-increasing hole that nearly touched both of the bones it was housed between. “If this stretches any more, I won’t be able to fly. Neither of us have enough magic to heal it without staying here for a good week or two, and that gives the humans more time to find us and the spirits more reason to be annoyed with us. And the nest isn’t too far from here as it is.”

 

“The wolves…were probably my imagination,” I began weakly. “I thought the ones we saw before could have been spirits too, and I was getting really stressed. Toothless, what if the Queen eats us?”

 

I was grasping at straws, and he knew it. “She needs us for our speed and fire. She wouldn’t dare eat us when an expendable Buzz-Wing is nearby.” His eyes widened, ears and wings literally dropping, aghast. “I…I didn’t mean that.”

 

I wrinkled my nose at him, but shook my head. He was just as desperate for a way into the nest as I was out. “It’s just…she did all those terrible things. I don’t want to help her.”

 

“But _we_ need her help,” Toothless responded gently. “You’re just starting to scab over, and we’re both dangerously low on magic. Healers can fix us up entirely in a single day rather than waiting weeks.” He poked my arm. “And I won’t let her eat you.”

 

“Can we sneak out once we’re better?” I wondered. Toothless thought about this for a moment, started to shake his head, and then nodded firmly. I smiled. “I guess…I can deal with that.”

 

Toothless butted my forehead. “Good. Let’s drink some more and leave before night falls.” He dove right back into the creek.

 

How the _hell_ can a dragon drink so much water?!

 

* * *

It looked like a giant claw rising from the ocean, surrounded by an army of fog-soaked pillars that refused to let me see anything past the mountain. It sounded like a thousand crickets chirping at once, with an underlying ever-present hum that wracked deep into my bones. It smelled of coal and fire.

 

My body buzzed in tune with an unknown source. I wasn’t literally shaking, like Toothless was. But I felt it inside my body, a creeping monster that crouched so low that I couldn’t pinpoint its exact location, only that it had spread from the tip of my nose to my tail. I felt exposed, insecure, and dirty, like a prisoner of war at the mercy of his captors, raped and beaten. I glanced over at Toothless, but he was too busy concentrating on not straining his injured wing to notice my unease.

 

“Hiccup,” Toothless said, as if he had become aware that I had been watching him. “There are things you should and shouldn’t do. You must address the Queen with utmost respect and as a Queen. If she tells you to do something, don’t question it. It won’t seem out of place to start up a conversation with someone, but if it becomes too thoughtful then she’ll notice, so I would just stay quiet and use yes or no responses. Don’t complain about _anything_ , and _NEVER_ enter the nest without food if you leave. In fact,” he began to search the ocean below, “we should probably get some fish, just in case.”

 

“Wow,” I breathed, feeling more than a little overwhelmed. Anxiety began to hook itself to my chest. In an attempt to shake it off I searched the water not too far below us for hints of life. I squinted when I thought I saw a flickering, and—

 

Toothless fired a blue-white blast of fire right into the water, and in the massive spray, a fish easily the size of my leg flailed midair. With an expertly-crafted dive Toothless had it in his claws, and again shot into the ocean, bringing up another fish about the same size. I caught it and nearly dropped it, the darn thing was wiggling so much!

 

“Alright,” my friend smirked in triumph, and was beginning to speak when he cut himself off. “Look over there!”

 

Emerging from the mist were about a dozen silhouettes that took notice of us at just about the same time that we did and changed course immediately. I bristled, claws tightening on my cod or trout or whatever I was holding.

 

Toothless pulled down closer to me. “It’s okay,” he soothed, and then we were being circled. Toothless began to hover, glancing at his worsening wing in worry, and I struggled to copy him. It took an embarrassingly long time for me to get the correct base-fin and tail-fin angles, all of which every single dragon had their eyes locked on me. Including Toothless, who looked more than a little nervous by now.

 

“Shadow-Blender!” A Nightmare gasped in joy. “You’ve returned! And with a brother!”

 

“Yes,” Toothless nodded. “I—“

 

“Who is he? And how are you even alive?! I thought you’d been downed!” The Nightmare that had spoken drew close enough to sniff at me. I did my best to look smaller. The last time one of these dragons had been this close, he’d been trying to turn me into a midnight snack.

 

The orange dragon chuckled. “This one’s a little…skittish, I suppose, to be your kin, Shadow-Blender.”

 

Annoyance crossed my friend’s face for a second before he smoothed it back down into one of calm. “Correct. I found him after running into the forest to hide from the Vikings. My tail was injured, and we’ve just managed to get back now.”

 

A Gronckle shook its head. “Only a Shadow-Blender like you could manage to keep the two of you alive when grounded on a human island. I am truly envious of your skill!”

 

Toothless flinched and looked at the hole, now much bigger, again. “Neither of us came out unscathed.”

 

The dragons surrounding us finally seemed to realize that we were, you know, injured. The Nadder that seemed to be their leader gasped and apologized, “Oh my! Please, get back to the Queen. She’ll help you.” She angled herself away, and the others began to follow. “Take care!”

 

As they were departing, I finally found my voice. “Don’t go near Berk!” I cried, but if any of them heard me, they showed no indication. They probably didn’t even know what the word “Berk” was. Toothless hadn’t until I’d told him.

 

With a powerful flap said dragon righted himself. I was less graceful, writhing around for a second before getting out of ‘hover mode’ and back into ‘flying mode’. “That went better than expected,” He told me with an encouraging smile. “You did very well.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but they all think I’m afraid of them now or something.”

 

“Well, that isn’t necessarily false,” Toothless pretended to mumble to himself. I snorted. “Alright, here we go!”

 

I’d barely processed what he meant when he suddenly dipped towards a massive hole in the side of the mountain. With a small squeak I flew directly behind him, praying I wouldn’t lose sight of him in the darkness and smack into a wall. We swerved, the cricket-chirping becoming deafening, and then everything was _red._

 

It took everything I had in me to not  stop and stare at the massive interior of the mountain, only now realizing that it was nothing but a giant shell. Holes and tunnels were everywhere, fire spurting up in random places, and a fog radiating with the red light drifted near the bottom of the cavern. Toothless banked out into its center and dropped his fish. I was quick to mimic him, although I felt a little silly dropping the food down a giant hole. Where was this almighty Queen, anyways?

 

Toothless settled down on a large, vacant platform, and I sort of plopped onto it next to him. In seconds that outcropping was overflowing with dragons, all of the yapping and spouting questions and sniffing and poking and prodding and _AAAH!_ I turned around and hissed at a dragon that had figured that _licking my wing_ was a good idea, parting my lips to show teeth. Both the dragon and Toothless halted in shock, and Toothless quickly draped a wing over me and told her that I’d had a long day.

 

Drawing close, he whispered in my ear, “What was that?!”

 

I just shook my head. “I...I  was telling her to back off.” If I was completely honest, I would have told him that I had just _reacted_ , and that my actions had felt normal and appropriate until just now. But I was having more than a small problem with that, and kept quiet.

 

“More like you were telling her that you were going to launch her into the pit! Calm down!” Toothless scolded, and I nodded once and pressed into his side.

 

A low, omnipresent rumble rose from this bottom of hole we’d dropped the fish in. The noise died down a lot, but not completely. The guttural growl emerged again, much louder, and a few dragons actually began to hide.

 

“This is it,” Toothless whispered, and that was all the warning I got before the mountain erupted. Lava and fog followed it as it rose to its great height above us and slowly dripped off its scales, falling back down into the cavern below us. All I could do was gawp and think: _Don’t faint._

 

This beast before us was godlike in size and sheer power. Her eyes were easily as big as I was when I had been a human, her jaw big enough to be filled with several helpings of Nightmares. I had assumed that she would be larger than a house from what Toothless had described about her eating dragons, but this was just _ridiculous!_ Her spines were brushing the open hole in the ceiling, and yet only her neck and head were in view! Berk was nothing but a pebble to her!

 

The Queen lowered her head so she was at our eye level, and all the dragons standing next to us scurried away. I couldn’t get over just how _unfair_ this was. I could crawl up her nose and she probably wouldn’t even notice!

 

_My Shadow-Blender, welcome home!_

 

Her jaw moved and I felt air come out, but it was almost as if her voice was booming in my head and not in reality. The feeling of invasion returned at full throttle and I flinched away, almost as if I thought I could crawl under Toothless.

 

Toothless nodded and discreetly nudged me, forcing me to stand up again. “I am sorry that I was gone for so long, my Queen!” He shouted, looking and sounding like an ant in comparison. “My tail was injured, and I was unable to fly out of the island!”

 

 _Wonderful, wonderful! It brings us much joy to see that you are healed!_ The Queen replied with as much warmth as the magma below her. _But even I see that you are not completely unburdened. Allow me._ The behemoth leaned down right towards us and I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting the inevitable. I felt something warm press up against my entire front.

 

A horribly distorted version of Toothless’ and mine link appeared in my mind. It crept like a shadow, silent and unnoticeable unless you were paying attention to it. A sensation of flooding, ice-cold water bowled me over, and I snapped my eyes open—!

 

I was standing in a perfect arch, my wings splayed out (and one pushing against Toothless’ cheek), my feet planted, and my head and tail close to the ground. My spines were bristling like a petrified cat, which is _exactly_ what I looked like. The Queen chuckled, her horrifying maw lifting up into a demented smile, and the surrounding dragons mimicked her. Blushing, I straightened out and took in as many deep breaths as the heat would allow.

 

“Our humblest gratitudes, our Queen!” Toothless thanked her, shooting me a look that was completely “pull yourself together or I swear I’ll sit on you”. “Please forgive him…he was not expecting you to be so great.”

 

 _Yes, yes, very understandable_ , The Queen dismissed. _But what great fortune that you have stumbled upon this Shadow-Blender! Don’t worry, little one, you are perfectly safe here._ She said, showing her glistening Viking-sized teeth in an attempt to be comforting or something. _It will be a great advantage to us to have two of your kind out during raids. Perhaps you would like to help with tonight’s?_

 

My eyes widened, and Toothless requested, “If you would allow, could we have a day to find food and help him adjust?” He wrapped his wing around me and adopted a “poor-thing” tone of voice. “Neither of us have eaten much in the past weeks, and my friend needs to learn how to function in civilized society.” I glared at him, and he simply smiled in a way that told me that this was payback for acting “uncivilized”.

 

The Queen was silent for a moment. _And why exactly have you been unable to eat? Surely game is on the island you were on?_

 

“Y-You don’t know?!” I gaped in disbelief at her, hot anger flashing through me.

 

She had the audacity to deflate and actually look depressed! Ducking her head low, she moaned, _I see what you are hinting at. I am afraid that a group of dragons has been lost, captured by the vile creatures that inhabit they were near. Were the two of you taken as well?_

 

Toothless nodded, his expression truly solemn, unlike the Queen’s. “I am afraid that…we were the only survivors,” he informed her unsteadily. The massive dragon reeled—literally _reeled—_ in shock. I stared around us to see that plenty of dragons were staring up at her with adoration in their eyes; look at the poor Queen, so upset over such a small loss, so loving. Ugh.

 

 _Very well_ , she broke the short silence. _You are given a day of rest. But by tomorrow at noon, both of you are expected to begin normal nest duties._

 

 Toothless lowered his head and spread his wings in a strange sort of bow. I did the same on much more hesitant ground.

 

Without another word, The Queen withdrew and was gone. The dragons all seemed to hesitate as one, and then slowly got back to milling about. They began moving at the same exact time: those who took flight leaped and flapped in unison, those who rested all sat down in identical positions as if they were mirrored images, and the few who walked around looked as if they were perfectly trained soldiers moving as a single unit. I watched them openmouthed, but Toothless just got up like it was no big deal and smacked me upside the head.

 

“Ow! Again with the slapping!” I groaned.

 

Toothless was _not_ amused. “You almost got us wing-deep in trouble just now,” he told me, so quietly that we were the only ones who could possibly hear. His hard expression softened. “Please, try to be more careful. I know it’s hard.”

 

Rubbing my cheek, I sighed. “Sorry. What do we do now?” I looked down at myself and then at Toothless (more specifically, his wing). We both looked like we’d never been hurt in the first place, and all the exhaustion I felt had dispersed. “Do you still feel sick?” I asked in worry.

 

“No, thank the gods,” Toothless said. “But I’d like to rebuild my magic more. It seems that the Queen focused more on the physical.” He rolled his eyes in irritation.

 

“Wonder why,” I said sarcastically. I’d been here for less than an hour and I was already hating it, and now we were expected to stay overnight? Joy.

 

Toothless shushed me with an understanding smile and then leaped into the air, snapping his newly-healed wings open and taking the updraft somewhere. It occurred to me that this was the first time he’d flown with completely healed wings and tail since I’d shot him down. How bittersweet that it was here of all places that he was finally able to be free.

 

I did the same and jumped of the cliff, circling lazily and allowing the heat to lift me up to the outcropping Toothless had landed on. He walked into a little cave, stepping over some cute baby Nightmares and Terrors chewing on stones, and called out if anybody was inside.

 

Two heads slithered out and wrapped around the two of us. “We are here,” one half of the female Zippleback greeted.

 

“And we can see nor smell any injuries,” the last one concluded. Both of them untangled and brought one head in front of each of us.

 

“ _What is your business?!_ ” Both barked at once, squinting at us. I blinked in shock and confusion and was more than a little upset to realize that I missed the spunky Zippleback from Berk. He was so much kinder and better than this one.

 

Toothless seemed just as annoyed as I was. “We need our magic healed. But it seems you don’t know how to do that,” he turned away from the flabbergasted, deeply insulted dragon and looked at me. “Let’s go find someone else.”

 

We both turned around when the two necks twisted around us and intertwined, locking us in. The Zippleback was forced to look at us from the corner of her eyes, but she did pull off the “mystical old lady” look quite well. “We can heal you,” one head snapped.

 

“In return for protection in any raid we are together in,” the other finished.

 

I raised an eyebrow. “But we’ll be busy knocking down…uh…things,” I said lamely, realizing that I should have just kept quiet about halfway through the first syllable.

 

“ _You will still be bound to protect us_ ,” she replied, unimpressed. I looked at Toothless, who just shrugged, and then nodded. “ _Excellent!_ ” The heads retracted for a second before then wrapping all the way around Toothless and meeting up with each head on one side of his. Poor Toothless’ pupils retracted in surprise and a whole lot of discomfort.

 

“Should I leave you three alone?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and an ear. The Zippleback head closest to me shot a stream of gas in my face that sent me into a coughing fit. “Augh, sorry! Jeez!” I wiped at my nose and coughed, trying to get the foreign, heavy-tasting stuff out of my system.

 

None of them responded. Instead, the Zippleback said something about opening Toothless’ “magic channels” and all three closed their eyes, brows furrowed in deep concentration. They held completely still for several long, awkward, boring minutes. Eventually both heads opened their eyes and retreated, turning into the little cavern and pulling out some sort of spiny leaves.

 

“Eat this to bind the spell,” the left head ordered, and Toothless did what he was told. He looked a bit queasy at the taste.

 

“How does a _leaf_ do that?” I said. It made no sense!

 

Both heads turned to me. “It is infused with magical properties,” the right head snapped. “Just as those hatchlings play with the unbreakable stones, medicines can be enchanted as well.”

 

The left head broke her “wise old one” character for a moment and explained, “Well, it actually is just infused with so much power that the spell cannot wear off…but…” she trailed off when her twin gave her a dirty look, and cleared her throat. “It is something that a lowly adolescent like yourself would not understand.” She restated, lifting her chin. I gave her a flat look.

 

“ _Your turn_ ,” both heads decided after a moment, and wrapped themselves around me in the same way they did to Toothless.

 

“Wait!” I cried. “How do I—“

 

Toothless interrupted me. “Just activate you magic without focusing on it. That way it won’t hurt you.”

 

I scrunched my eyes, gritting my teeth in concentration. Hidden away in my mind was a little orb of energy—I imagined that it glowed—that I could just barely grasp with my claws. I huffed in effort, forcing the orb to expand throughout my whole mind, encompassing it. The humming and cricket sounds began to fade away on a wave of calm, and I noticed right away that the shadow that I had felt earlier was wriggling about, fighting at the light that was diminishing it. It eventually gave up and fled, and my chest convulsed as if someone had smacked it like a wardrum. The Zippleback let out a whoosh of air from each head, as if it felt the same.

 

A new entity—the Zippleback, I knew—crept into my mind like a wary rabbit on high alert. It tiptoed along the edges, never fully immersing, and slowly began building at it. I watched it in my eye’s mind as it took excruciatingly long to complete, at least twice as long than with Toothless. My mind began to wander, settling down on why this didn’t hurt like the last time Toothless had used magic on me, but I supposed it was because he had been healing a wound and not replenishing something that was already there.

 

At last, the two-headed elder cut herself away and I snapped myself back to reality. The buzzing and humming almost overcame me, and once again the shadow flung itself at me and burrowed beneath my thoughts, where it could not be reached. The Zippleback seemed to feel the same, shakily giving me some leaves. She seemed off-put, gazing around her like she’d never seen the nest until just now. “How did…” the left began.

 

“…you do that?” The right completed. I tipped my head to the side as I munched on the bitter, dry plant, and the Zippleback shook her heads.

 

“ _We need to think_ ,” she said, and without waiting for a response turned and trotted back into the cave.

 

I frowned. “What was that all about?” I asked Toothless. The Night Fury walked up to me and sniffed around for a second, one eyebrow reaching for the sky.

 

“I’m…not sure. I think…maybe your magic was different to her, and she was disorientated. Remember when you tried to heal me when we were being chased but you knocked me out instead?” He pointed out.

 

I slumped a little. “Yeah, that was the opposite of helping.”

 

“It was!” Toothless confirmed. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. She seemed like her spines had been pushed too deeply into her head anyways. What kind of dragon wraps around another one like that?” He shuddered.

 

“You?” I recalled, remembering the numerous times he’d lay down next to me and put some appendage around me. This comment of mine led to a rather remarkably stunned dragon, and for the first time, I saw what Toothless looked like when he was so embarrassed he was speechless. The dragon gaped several times, ears standing straight up, and then eventually settled for giving me a dirty look and pouting off in a random direction. I laughed. “So what now, Cuddles?”

 

Toothless bristled. “How about I teach you how to get out of a neck-hold, Freckles?” He grinned impishly, settling into a low crouch. I jumped to my feet, turned—

 

—and sprinted headlong into a Gronckle that had landed right behind me. He squeaked in surprise and lay low to the ground while I rubbed my nose. I pretended not to notice when Toothless walked to my side and made a plethora of clumsy jokes in rapid-fire; mine were way better, anyways. I informed Toothless of this, and thus a debate was started.

 

“Um, excuse me?” The Gronckle whimpered in the middle of our conversation, eyes locked on his feet. “The Queen wishes to see you.”

 

That stopped us both in our tracks. Toothless and I both glanced at each other in worry and confusion, and said, “What?”

 

He started to shake at our agitation. “Please forgive me for interrupting, Shadow-Blenders…but the Queen said that if the brown one does not come to her soon, and alone, she will be upset. Please…” he whimpered, eyes begging for me, apparently, to hurry up and get my ass down there.

 

“Um…alright,” I said, and the Gronckle flopped to the ground, smiling. He thanked me profusely before taking off, his flight halting and unsteady.

 

Toothless grabbed my arm. “Are you sure?” He asked me, concerned. “She doesn’t usually call dragons down like that. We can run right now…”

 

I considered this. But looking around, at all the dragons moving so mechanically, I knew I would never forgive myself if I just _left_ these dragons here, helpless and alone, even in their own minds. That Zippleback must have been shaken not because she was tired, but because she got a glimpse of what true freedom was like when she touched my magic and was deeply connected with me. It must have been a cumulative effect, from both Toothless’ and mine free magic clashing with her captive magic.

 

Well, it made sense to me.

 

“No,” I finally said. “I want to see what she wants.” I got up and looked down the deep hole, feeling a wave of nausea hit me. I swayed unsteadily and Toothless caught me, holding me upright and purring in a vain attempt to be comforting.

 

He pointed down at an outcropping just above the fog, where a few dragons were lying down and soaking up the warmth. “I’ll be right there if you need me.” He smiled. “I’m sure she just wants to learn more about you.”

 

“What should I say?”

 

Toothless grinned. “Lie your scales off. Say you’re from some island like this one and that you got kicked out of your own tribe, or maybe that you just set off on a self-actualization quest.” He suggested.

 

“ _Only_ a self-actualization quest,” I mocked, but I couldn’t help but return Toothless’ smile. I opened my wings and leaned down, letting myself dive before the heat flung me right back up. A moment later I heard Toothless take off, and for just a few seconds we were flying together. But then Toothless broke off and landed with a soft _thump_ somewhere off to my right, and I dove through the surprisingly hot fog.

 

It was like unlike anything I’d seen before. The entire floor was roiling lava, and when I opened my wings as wide as I could in fright I was launched right back up into the fog. Gritting my teeth, I angled myself back down and hugged the edge of the mountain until I came across a small cliff that I could sit on. Landing was tricking; it required opening my wings again, but whenever I did I was buffeted back. I had to settle for just closing them directly over the landing and falling several feet (and facefirst) onto it.

 

The stone was _searing_ hot. I yelped and scrambled to stand on my feet, which wasn’t much better but much more preferable to having my face on it. I could handle the heat on my feet, but for how long I was unsure of.

 

“Hello?” I called out, coughing as the ambient heat thrust itself into my lungs and mademe feel as though I’d inhaled fire instead of exhaling it. Remembering how Toothless had spoken earlier, I amended, “Your Majesty?”

 

The lake of liquid fire shifted. It began to inflate for just a second, and then the massive head of the Queen burst out. She opened her eyes and glanced to and fro, sniffing the air animatedly. Suddenly she swiveled towards me and her eyes focused right onto mine. I shrank back, watching as little streams of bright orange trailed down her face and back to its source with sparks and hisses.

 

 _Hello, young Shadow-Blender_ , the Queen began. _I offer much gratitude for your swift response. Very true to your kind._ She turned her head and studied me carefully, and I found myself nodding with a smile that even _felt_ fake. For whatever reason, this seemed to satisfy for her. _Tell me, from where do you hail?_

“A mountain!” I blurted, Toothless’ suggestion being the first thing that came to mind. “I mean, I lived at the base of it, near a forest.” Which wasn’t even a slight lie at all, really.

 

The Queen nodded. _A mountain, and all by yourself?_

 

I thought about lying about having a family. Dad’s furious, disappointed scowl filled my vision, and I squeezed my eyes shut, lowering my head a little. “Yeah,” I said, so quiet I doubt she heard me. “I was alone.”

 

Again. Not a lie.

 

The Queen hummed in sympathy. _What happened to your family?_ _Or is that not a topic you are comfortable with?_ She revised, her voice sympathetic and gentle.

 

Gods, for all the world, she seemed like a kind, caring leader. And yet Toothless had said that she’d fed on dragons, lured them into traps so she could catch prey, and even forced the dragons to hunt solely for her, to hell with their own food supply. I found myself trapped in her gaze, wondering if Toothless had…over-exaggerated? Maybe he disliked her way of leadership and so saw malevolence where it wasn’t.

 

I ripped my eyes away from the godlike creature’s. No. Toothless wasn’t the over-exaggerating type, and he certainly wouldn’t have imagined it up on his own. I was falling into the same trap as the other dragons.

 

With a shrug, I said, “I left our nest once I was old enough to. I always wanted adventure.” A memory of when I was young and traveled off into the forest, somehow managing to come out of a battle with a ferocious rabbit unharmed, flitted into my mind. A fond smile formed on my lips. How simple everything had been back then.

 

 _Ah, all young dragons do_ , the Queen said, _and your adventure concluded on your island?_ I nodded. The Queen turned her head to look at me again. _Would you leave to perform rituals?_

 

Rituals? What?! I didn’t know dragons did rituals!

 

“N-no,” I said, forcing myself to look straight into her eyes. Quick, pretend to be anything but nervous! I ducked my head again in mock shame, adding on mournfully, “But I wish I could have.”

 

_Sadly. What of the human island that your friend fell upon? He was downed by a mighty warrior, I heard, and could not fly. Why were you there?_

 

It took a lot to not laugh at the “mighty warrior” bit. The _ground_ was hurting me! But at least this was something I was familiar with! “I was hungry. There’s this shed that the humans keep their food in, and I was rummaging through it when we sort of came upon each other.” The Queen narrowed her eye critically and turned to have her nose facing me, a grin plastered on her face. My heart hammered. Did I say something wrong?!

 

 _So you two decided to hide until he could leave, but were captured instead?_ The Queen went on as if nothing had happened.

 

“Yes,” I said. Once again, anger flashed through me. She had a knowing look in her eyes. “There were dozens of other dragons there, and all of them but us were murdered.” My claws dug into the dirt. I took a deep, painfully hot breath and reminded myself that pissing this dragon off was probably not going to help me very much.

 

The superheated stones below me seemed to build in intensity. I switched to standing on my toes.

 

For some reason, the Queen seemed lost in thought. Then, _I am sorry. I know that your experience must have been very traumatic. Why don’t we speak of something else?_

She fell silent, expectant. I shifted on my feet a little. “Uh…nice weather we’re having?”

 

The Queen threw her head back and laughed; it was a wheezy, reedlike sound that sent shivers prickling through my entire body. I weakly chuckled along with her, almost certain that she would figure out that I was spouting lies.

 

Shaking her head, the Queen chortled, _I like you, young Shadow-Blender._ _You show great potential and a sharp mind._

 

I reared my head back for a moment and bowed, spreading my wings out both for balance and to look more regal. “Thanks, Your Majesty,” I said, eyes on the obsidian stones below me. I swayed back and forth in an effort to keep my paws from burning, but it was no use; the heat was getting to me. Stinging pain was rising up from the ground like a slow fire.

 

 _You are most welcome. Rise._ I did as I was told, and she bent uncomfortably close and sniffed me. _I see that you have regained more magic. Have you coincided with a healer?_

 

Leaning far back and trying not to stare up her nose, I said distractedly, “Yes, we went to see a Two-Neck.”

 

 _Yes, yes, I know the one you speak of. A bit odd and overdramatic, but a good healer nonetheless. So tell me, what spells are you able to perform?_ She withdrew, much to my relief.

 

My mind flew back to the tunnel Toothless and I had been in, and my failed healing spell that had almost killed us both. “I’m…only able to strengthen my limbs and fire,” I admitted.

 

_Magic is a new subject to you?_

Even I knew answering truthfully would have severe consequences. “I’m just not very good at it,” was what I settled on. I stared into her eyes again, feeling a whole new sense of unease come over me.

 

The Queen gave a slow nod. _I see. It is never too late to learn, however. You can always ask a fellow dragon to teach you, Shadow-Blender. Now, before I take up any more of your time, I would like to ask you one more question_.

 

My ears stood straight and I raised my head. One more question! Finally!

 

The Queen drew in close and turned her head. My tiny reflection shimmered on her clouded eyeball. _Would you show me a paw?_

 

Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, I lifting my left leg and held it out. It looked completely normal.

 

_Turn it over, please._

 

Hesitating just a moment, I followed her instructions. And felt my stomach drop.

 

Burned. My paw was burned, blistering in the intense heat. But dragons were fireproof. It should have been as smooth as it was before I came down here. _Damn it!_ I thought, my mind racing desperately for an explanation. _What should I say?!_

 

The Queen didn’t speak and instead huffed, drawing back and turning her nose towards me again. The magma below her rippled like poisoned water, casting glimmering light onto her maw and spines. She sniffed at the air for the longest time.

 

 _You are very intelligent_ , she stated. _Perhaps more than even your friend. But not intelligent enough to fool me, unfortunately._

 

Oh no. How much did she know just by looking at my feet?!

 

_Allow me to explain to you your faults. Most dragons do not even know that the word ‘shed’ exists. While we dragons do hold rituals, it is not looked down on to do them alone or even miss them completely due to complications. And the species is called Two-Head, not Two-Neck. Not to mention Shadow-Blenders are well-known for their ability to withstand fire, or their own flames would incinerate them unless they were swift enough to fly out of range._

My eyes widened. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. It was over. She’d been playing me all along.

 

_You are the human the Shadow-Blender changed._

 

I jolted in horror. “N-no! I’m—“

 

He lips rose, revealing deathly sharp teeth. _Silence._ _There is no need to lie to me any further, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. You are the descendent of Stoick the Vast, the leader of your tribe, the wager of wars, the executioner of countless dragons, yourself nearly included._

 

She lowered her head towards me again. I gritted my teeth, leaning back on my hind legs and unfurling my wings. How was I going to get away from her without her snapping at me? Was it even physically possible?

 

She snorted a puff of air that nearly sent me flying back against the mountain. I crouched down, sheathing my teeth filtering gas into my mouth in a vain attempt to ward her off—

 

_I am sorry._

 

The Queen gave a sad little chuckle at my gobsmacked expression. _It was not the Shadow-Blender’s place to force this form upon you, wounded pride or not. You have suffered a great loss as a consequence of his actions. It seems that now, even as a human, your kind would have trouble allowing you into their midst again._

 

She paused as if to wait for me to reply, but I was too baffled, too overwhelmed. _Most hybrids like you do not survive. Their systems go into shock or organs are half-formed. A misuse of magic can also catalyze the formation of tumors, suddenly revert on itself, or all but consume the organism affected. I would say that it is simply dumb luck that you are standing here in one piece and not several._

My shock died down at this revelation. “Wait—are you saying that there are more dragons like me?”

 

The Queen smiled. _I am most sorry, young one. But almost all of them have perished, and those that remain are but shadows of their former selves. I can’t help but wonder if the same fate will fall upon you…_

 

“No.” I raised my chin, meeting her gaze evenly. “I won’t be like them. I’m still me.” No matter how much I changed, I have always known who I was. The incident with the Nadder just moments ago sprung to my mind, and I threw it aside.

 

 _You have been a dragon for less than a full rotation of the seasons. How can you be so sure?_ She said. _However, if it is your wish to remain who you are presently, as Hiccup the Slightly Human Dragon, then I may be able to help you stay true to yourself. I know it must be very hard to do so, having your own father demand that you be killed._ She shook her head at this.

 

I lowered my eyes. As much as I hated it, she was right. What did I know of humans that had been turned to dragons? She’d even brought up how Dad…

 

I scrunched my nose up in thought. I didn’t remember telling her about that.

 

The epiphany hit me in a wave of revulsion. “You knew!” I cried, snapping my head up and opening my wings. “You were so connected with those dragons that you could hear what my father was saying! You let all of them be murdered!” I pointed an accusing claw at her, demanding, “Why couldn’t you have just sent help!?”

 

She seemed to change positions, raising her neck further into the air and disrupting the magma pool. _Every Viking warrior was concentrated in that area. No matter how big of a group I sent, our losses would have been heavy, and the chances of us even succeeding in freeing the captives would have been very low. Please, try and imagine the bloodshed that would result from that._

 

“No!” I snarled, taking a step forward. “Dragons never attack in the day, and you know it! They would have been completely off-guard, and swarming in all at once would have rattled them enough to help the others escape! And you could have at least let them have their own minds in their last moments!” I clamped my mouth tightly shut after the last sentence, finally realizing that I had gone too far.

 

The Queen was taken aback as well. _And rob them of their only comfort? Let them truly realize that their deaths were upon them? I am all that my children have. They would be distraught without me._ She shook her head like it was a sad truth.

I took a small step forward. “It sounds like _you_ would be distraught without _them._ Especially since you don’t give them a choice.”

 

 _How little you know_ , she mused. _Listen closely, hybrid. You have a choice to make. You no longer have a place with the humans—the humans that you just plotted against, might I add—but you can rebuild your life among us dragons. As a Shadow-Blender you would enjoy a high status among the tribe and lifetime of friendship and family._ She was nearly nose-to-nose with me. _Which is something that I understand that you have never had. They will not care where your roots lie. I guarantee it. I will allow you your own mind, and perhaps your friend his own. You will be happy and accepted, just like you’ve always wanted._

 

It was tempting. So, so tempting. And I hated myself for admitting it.

 

But all I could do was stare at her in a blank daze.

 

She had Toothless…under her control?

 

 _No_ , my mind screamed. It pinned the very notion to the ground and tore its throat and heart out, ripped its corpse to shreds and hurled it into the ocean. No, Toothless couldn’t be under her control. Not my Toothless, my best friend, the only creature that had ever taken the time to get to know me. Not the one who’d saved my life countless times and who had liked me for the person I was. _Not Toothless. Not Toothless. No._

No.

 

_“We need to go to the nest,” Toothless told me. He was completely serious._

 

No.

 

_“We need to rest somewhere safe,” Toothless tried to persuade me. I gawked at him, remembering the hatred in his voice when he described the Queen, the stories of her ravenous hunger that crossed the edge of cannibalism._

 

…no…

 

_“We need her help.”_

I sank to the unforgiving ground, waiting for the absent tears to come. Toothless was under her control. He had always been under her control. He must have had some inkling of freedom because of how clear-minded he was in comparison to the dragons, which was just enough for him to know that she was hurting him but never having the mind to pinpoint why. She had been ever-present in all of our conversations and our actions without either of us even knowing it.

 

My heart dropped when a thought occurred to me: had the Queen forced Toothless into our friendship to clean up the mess he made of me? Had she clamped her control on him after I’d shot him down?

 

Through all of this fruitless circling, the Queen watched me with her head to the side, eye locked onto me. _I gave the Shadow-Blender a portion of his free will so that he would be cunning enough to take care of my children during our scavenging. But believe me when I say that I had no part in your transformation. I watched from afar for a short while until it became apparent that he needed my help. It was me edging him to befriend you and not kill you in blind hatred. It was me teaching you our ways. It was me giving him support to live through the Kill Ring. And it was me trying to send you both back here, where it is safe._ The venomous words dripped with disgusting sympathy, as if I was too stupid to understand.

 

“And where were you when he was dying?!” I all but sobbed in sorrow and hatred. “Where were you when he needed you most?”

 

 _Where do you think that patrol you ran into was going earlier?_ She said gently, like a mother soothing her frightened children. _I waited to see if the Shadow-Blender would make it through the night, and once I regained consciousness I instead sent them to go hunt._ She observed me crumpled against the pitch-black cliff and then said, _It is for the better that the dragons are under my control. The sooner you learn that, the less painful this will become._

 

The memories of the dragons sacrificing themselves for “the sake of the Queen” filled the forefront of my mind. The way the dragons above acted as one, stripped of all individuality. The way she had manipulated Toothless. I glowered at her, a tidal wave of rage building up inside my chest.

 

“ ** _NO!_** ” I howled, rearing up on my hind legs and shooting the most powerful fireball I could create at her! “ ** _YOU! ARE! WRONG!_** ”

 

The plasma roared into her forehead, a sun-white ball of pure, sheer power. When it hit it sent a purple-blue light pulsating from it in a radiant wave. The Queen was flung back, gasping, and sunk back into the lava. For about two and a half seconds, I stood on the edge of the cliff and _stared her down_ , claws gripping the edge and chest puffed out, feeling pretty damn proud of myself.

 

The Queen blinked once and rose, baring her putrid teeth and rotting gums in all of their hideous glory. My confidence wavered and then found a little corner to shrivel up and die in.

 

Despite everything, she _smiled._ She let out that windy laugh, sending torrents of rancid, carrion-smelling breath sailing over me. _My, my, how spirited you are. I have not seen a dragon with your passion in quite some time._

 

That fond smile remained even as she turned her head to look at me. _Such a shame that your fire needs to be whittled. But, as you know, one spark can ignite an entire forest._ The grin fell from her face, replaced by something that looked almost grim.

 

“What?” I choked, eyes widening and ears and wings lowering. I backed up, leaning low to the ground as the beast rose to loom over me, staring relentlessly, never blinking.

 

_Perhaps someday you will understand. I am sorry. Know that I am helping both of you, my child._

 

The shadow that had been lurking in the labyrinth of my mind suddenly launched forth like a starved animal having just found a meal. My head became compressed and heavy, as if it weighed as much as my body, and everything was spinning and—and—!

 

I clenched my eyes shut, forcing the light from before into existence. She wasn’t going to get away with this! Groaning, I pushed back with all my might, trying to blind the monster and rip it apart until it was nothing but mist! It stumbled back, and I felt an alien emotion pound through my skull, something of shock, but there was no time to think of that, no time for anything! I had to fight and never stop! I had to warn Toothless!

 

The shadow seemed to compose itself and collected into a flame fed with intellect and willpower, seeking to consume. The wall I manifested held fast, and unstoppable force collided with unmovable barrier, deadlocked.

 

Until that wall crumbled.

 

There was a crack—a lingering doubt—and that was all the shadow needed. Like a cannon bursting through a ship it exploded inwards, shrapnel flung in every conceivable direction. I was dimly aware of my body smacking into the ground, hard, but all I could concentrate on was the invasion of my being, the virus of the mind that was flooding in like a thousand ravenous bloodhounds that had caught the scent of a fox.

 

_…no…_

 

It was falling like heavy snow inside my consciousness, silent but lethal. Everything was becoming distant and subdued. My sight faded, my ears deafened. Even the sensation of the simmering rocks beneath me simmered down to nothing, and I was floating in a great nothingness that was overflowing with a thousand other presences that were trapped in their own personal niches. I tried to reach out to my body, but it was so far away. And I was so tired.

 

I was dimly aware of two figures swathed in heavenly light pulsing in the distance. But they, too, were covered by the comforting blanket of darkness, and all was still.

 

* * *

 

_…_

_…Shadow-Blender, you were found deserted on an island, injured and dying. You were brought here to this nest, where our greatest healers worked day and night to prevent the Dragoness of the Moon from taking you under her wing just yet. We are uncertain how you came to be on that shore, but consider yourself a very lucky dragon indeed. The hunting party that discovered you nearly flew right over you._

_Do not worry. You have recovered. You will learn the magic you have forgotten and build the strength you have lost._

_You are safe now, my child. Let your mind rest in peace…_

_…_

* * *

_Where in the Dragon of the Sun’s name is Hiccup?!_

I stared impatiently at the bloodred fog below me, clawing at the dirt in anxiety. They had been down there discussing something for an excruciatingly long time. I glanced up at the tiny slice of sky above, but was given no indicator to exactly how much time had passed.

 

Alright, this is just ridiculous. The Queen has _never_ called a dragon down to speak with for so long. It was to be expected, of course. But the perpetual oddness hung in the air like a thick cloud of gas, and I was choking on it. I flew threw a thousand different scenarios of what was going on down there, and none of them ended in sunshine and rainbows.

 

Opening my healed wings, I leaned forward and dropped off the cliff. I began to think of an excuse to intervene: we want to get the Queen more food, we need the rest of the day to hunt, Hiccup needs to begin magic training.

 

I had chosen the first one when a pair of talons closed around my side, snapping my wings tightly against my body. I looked up to see a _young_ Two-Leg of all dragons holding me in his powerful grip, fixing me with a patronizing look that he really did not have any right to wear.

 

“Put me down _right now!_ ” I screeched with as much authority as I could muster, flailing about and unsheathing my teeth. How dare he interrupt me! Hiccup could need me right this instant and this lowly dragon, barely old enough to know magic, was stopping me on a whim!

 

The ocean-blue dragon followed my orders, returning back to the crowded outcropping that I had just jumped off of. He set me down and I spun to face him, hissing, “Just who do you think you are?!”

 

He had the good sense to avoid eye contact, but spoke with quite an attitude. “The Queen does not like to be interrupted. Wait your turn.”

 

I blinked in shock and advanced on him, curling my lip up to reveal just a hint of my teeth. “And what puts you above me?” I said quietly, rearing up on my hind legs so that I was equal in height with him. For added effect I unfurled my wings and raised them above us in a canopy, forcing both of us in my shadow and undoubtedly making my eyes appear as if they were cast in a wicked glow.

 

The Two-Leg, on the other hand, pressed his limbs close to his body and crouched low. “Would you rather be eaten, Shadow-Blender?” He growled in the way that only stupid, reckless children could, his eyes shooting up to meet mine for a moment and then darting away.

 

A small part of me realized that I was taking out my stress on him and that he was, actually, right on both levels. I ignored it; no dragon had any right to grab another one out of the air, risking injury to their wings! _Especially_ to a Shadow-Blender! “I know what I am doing!” I snarled. “Know your place, Two-Leg! If I wish to speak with the Queen then I will.”

 

He sneered up at me for a moment, spines sticking up in agitation. Then he turned with an aggravated huff and stalked away, muttering something about a superiority complex and some other such nonsense. The other dragons around me quieted, avoiding eye contact when I turned around to glare at them.

 

 _Now, to go help Hiccup_ , I thought, turning back to face the fog. I unfurled my wings, closing my eyes to concentrate on where the heat was rising the strongest. Once I’d found the best spot to flow down from, I opened them and crouched low.

 

The fog _exploded!_

 

Every dragon in the vicinity let out a universal gasp of shock. An adolescent Hum-Wing that had been standing near me, only a little bigger than a hatchling, screamed in terror and plummeted off the cliff. I leaped down after her, grabbing her in my arms almost like I was hugging her and letting the heat waves carry us back up. I could have sworn I heard a laugh from below, but it was most likely my imagination.

 

I set the little Hum-Wing down on solid ground. She clung to my leg and I awkwardly shook it in an attempt to dislodge her, drawing a few laughs from the dragons around me. Another Hum-Wing, a little bit older, finally came over and carried her away by her scruff.

 

“Shadow-Blender!”

 

I looked up to see a Flame-Skin, yellowed with age, land besides me. The dragon was old enough to have gray cracks in his scales. In response the dragons closest to him bowed low, heads nearly touching the ground. I did as well, but kept my eyes on his and my head only down to my chest.

 

The elder said nothing, merely waiting for us to rise, and then said calmly, “Was that you just now?”

 

I blinked, ears sticking straight up. He thought that _I_ had done that?! “No! It was—“

 

_It was Hiccup._

 

It occurred to me that Hiccup may very well be eaten at this moment, punished for his mindless action. I froze, my mouth moving up and down but no sound coming out.

 

I spun and took to the air. I had to get down there _right now!_

 

There was a golden flash. The Flame-Skin appeared before me, having used his superior magic abilities to push him forward faster than lightning. I just barely missed smashing right into him and swerved around him. We had no choice but to circle and slowly rise due to the air currents, and with each passing second dread weighed me down like a great burden.

 

“So it was the other Shadow-Blender. Best to stay up here, and take refuge inside the caves. And quickly!” By now we were at the height of the mountain, the opening mere wingbeats away. The elder angled himself downwards and swooped into a high cave. Its occupants scrambled out of the way to make room.

 

“Hiccup,” I whispered, staring down at the fog below. Had the Queen given him a chance to react, we would have seen more fire. So he was either eaten, or she was toying with him before she ate him. If that were the case, he needed me.

 

I folded my wings and dove, sheathing my teeth and filing my mouth with as much gas as it would allow. Those that heard me all cried out in horror, a few even yelling for me to be stopped, but they were too late! If I didn’t see Hiccup the second I breached the fog, then I would unleash all hellfire onto the Queen, fake servitude be damned!

 

The middle of the interior had just raced past me in a blur when I felt it. It was like a tailful of spines smacking me directly in the head, ripping so deep they came out the other side. It was like a Viking had lifted a massive stone and dropped it square on my forehead. It was like my entire mind had been set aflame, like it had been composed of dry, water-starved bramble and suddenly exploded in an intense heat.

 

I stumbled midair, my wings flailing and my tailfins unable to find purchase. I spun as my eyes went blind, as the numbing pain pulsed and ate away at my thoughts—it just made them _stop_ —

 

A sharp ringing filled my ears and was all I heard, all I could feel, as the heat of the magma below blew away as if shooed by the wind and the wind that was surely rushing past me turned from a howl to a whisper to nothing at all.

 

I would have wondered if I was dead if I could.

 

My world became darkness, and I was alone. So, so alone, and it was such a horrible place that I would have preferred taking a swim in the lava over it. I wanted to scream, but had no mouth to call out with. I wanted to look for something—a Cough?—but had no eyes to search with. Perhaps I could have opened my wings and flown out of the darkness, like swimming out of deep water, but I no longer had the necessary appendages to do so.

 

I hung there in eternity, unable.

 

Then the lonely absoluteness was washed away with something, with a thought that was not my own but felt as if it had originated from me.

 

_It is alright, my child. Come to me._

 

I tried to turn towards the sound, blinking eyes that did not exist. Who was that? My mother?

 

“Mother?” I tried to say, but my words were mine to hear alone. Silent air passed through whatever I had tried to speak with.

 

There were two bright lights, too bright to discern a color. I floated closer in the nothingness. Mother?

 

_No, my dear. You must not go there. Come to me._

 

I felt something nudge me. It wasn’t physical, but it was a presence making itself known. I stared at the lights, the two beautiful irregularities in this terrifying darkness, and wondered what was so bad about them. Their light was bathing me in a great mass of emotions, happiness and excitement and fear and determination, so many things that seemed so impossible here.

 

_Amenity deceives, little one. Come, where it is safe._

 

There it was again, that force that I couldn’t pinpoint. It enveloped me in a wary cradle.

 

“But the lights,” I tried again, but ended up with the same result as the last time. They seemed dimmer and more spontaneous in the embrace of the _thing_ , violent and sharp like twin suns that had turned malevolent. My vision began to blur and sting. I could not feel it before, but now that the thought-voice was aiding me, I could easily tell that these two lights were not trying to help me.

 

_Come._

 

I turned away and buried myself into the cool, endless darkness. Where it is safe.

 

* * *

I awoke into a hazy mess of colors and sounds and sensations that _hurt._ My head pounded.

 

“Oh, thank the Dragoness of the Moon,” a female voice said above me. I turned on my side, blinking blearily up at the blue and white figure that was a little too close for comfort. “When you passed out, we all thought you’d fall to your death.”

 

The world came into focus around me. I was in the nest, on some stones, and surrounded by dragons. “Huh?”

 

What had just happened? I remember flying. It was night, I believe. And then…

 

…and then…

 

I came upon a block, a great wall of ice and stone in my wind. When I tried to push against it a wave of nausea overtook me, and I quickly came to the conclusion that it was not worth it as I lost the contents of my stomach right there in front of everyone. A few dragons drew closer in worry, but the majority wisely backed away.

 

Groaning, I found my feet underneath me and stumbled upright, swaying back and forth. “I…fell?” I tried to confirm. The Two-Walker nodded exuberantly, which did nothing to make the situation make any more sense.

 

“I caught you.” An elder Flame-Skin with magnificent sun-colored scales stepped up, his tone irate. “I told you to follow me for a reason.” He huffed, the barest hint of flame licking out of his scales.

 

I did not remember ever meeting him, but I still bowed respectfully, stopping when my chin reached the middle of my feet. “I am sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

 

He simply shook his head and turned away, his duties done. The other dragons mimicked his model, going back to their normal business. I simply stayed put, sitting down facing the pit and trying to find a solution to this strange puzzle I had found myself in. How long had passed since that night? Why couldn’t I remember what was past it?

 

I shook my head, staring down at the fog below. Maybe the Queen would know. Whenever any dragon had questions, she was always abundant with answers.

 

I got up, shaking my body to try and get rid of any remaining stiffness that had been in it. Stepping to the edge, I tried to determine where exactly I should take off towards.

 

That was when I saw him.

 

A brown dragon burst out of the heat-born clouds and twirled around, looking almost as confused as I felt. I gaped at him, unable to believe what I was seeing. Deep, pine-green eyes met mine, and he tipped his head far to the side. Then, with an elegant twist, he glided towards me, landed with an unsteady wobble and jogging to guarantee that he didn’t fall flat on his face.

 

My disbelief only grew at this. He was a Shadow-Blender! I hadn’t seen another one in years!

 

And he had somehow managed to miscalculate his landing, even though newborn Shadow-Blenders were skilled fliers from birth…?

 

I raised an eyebrow as he sheepishly smiled at me. “Are you ill?” I squinted, trying to see for myself if he was. He was scrawny—a fishbone, really—and looked like he’d been starved for weeks. His face was adorned with freckles and his scales and eyes seemed dulled. He seemed a little younger than I was, and yet he was built so…differently. The more I looked, the more apparent it became that maybe he wasn’t quite alright.

 

The Shadow-Blender seemed to consider this as well. “I have a headache. But I’m alright.” He nodded once.

 

I returned the gesture. My head was still sending spikes of pain through my skull. “I’m sure you’ll be alright, then. But eat something. You look like you’re about to break in half.” I turned, opening my wings, and shouted to the mass of dragons, “A hunting party is being formed here!”

 

Immediately dragons began to flock, chattering excitedly. The Shadow-Blender seemed to perk up. “Are you leading?” He asked unfurling his own wings.

 

I frowned at him. “You are new here?”

 

His smile faded again, a perplexed expression crossing his face for just a second. “…Yes. I am.” He finally said.

 

Standing, I leaned down to his eye level. “I can tell. I _always_ lead.” Narrowing my eyes, I repeated, “Always.”

 

He lowered his eyes and ears. “Alright.” I grinned at him, pleased, and began to turn away when he gasped, “Wait!”

 

I gave him an annoyed look. All of the dragons who had volunteered were ready to go. Her Majesty must be hungry! If we wanted to get a large bounty, we needed to leave now, while the sun was just beginning to set.

 

He averted his eyes again, pawing at the ground. “I…the Queen told me I needed to find a mentor in magic. Would you be willing…?” He trailed off, his nerves getting the better of him.

 

I cocked my head. A Shadow-Blender this age, unable to use magic? How absurd!

 

“Why do you even need one?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

 

The Shadow-Blender stared at the ground. “I…don’t know. I just…” He looked up at me, his eyes pained. “The Queen says I need to learn to use my magic so that I have an advantage against humans. Would you please help me?”

 

 _Well, if the Queen ordered it…_ , I thought.

 

“Of course. We Shadow-Blenders need to stick together, after all.” I smiled and rose on my hind legs, gesturing broadly. “Welcome to the nest!”

 

* * *

 

I led us high above the clouds, towards the islands abundant with sea foliage and, more importantly, fish.

 

The further and further away we got from the nest, though, the more that Shadow-Blender’s eyes filled my mind. With each mental reconstruction of them, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing, that something vitally important had been lost on me.

 

The moon and stars seemed to agree; for that night, they were absent.


	12. Chapter 12

On an early fall’s morning I rose from the nest after a night of restless sleep. I had lain next to the black Shadow-Blender for hours, eyes wide open, and watched my little pocket of the mountain as it slumbered. Eventually it became clear that my frantic, fluttering thoughts would keep me awake, and I snuck off as quietly as my clumsy feet and wings would allow. The sky was a fragile blue, that of a bird’s egg, and I was almost afraid that my wingbeats would crack and splinter it. I remained perched on the tip of the mountain, staring out across the vast columns of stone that spoke of millennia of erosion, the fog, and the few islands that were visible from the height.

Staring up at the cloudless sky, I caught sight of a frail, faded moon hovering on the edge of the horizon, almost as if it was shy and afraid to speak up. I could emphasize; in my few weeks here at the nest, I had been nothing but an awkward mess. Being a Shadow- Blender, and an unknown one at that, had put loads of stress and expectations on my shoulders that I didn’t even know was expected of me. Which meant I had to stumble through the embarrassment of disappointing my peers and having the other Shadow-Blender pull me aside to give me a lecture countless times.

With a shake of my head I forced myself to stop mulling over my past mistakes. While I was far from perfect, I was starting to adjust to this culture. It was gradually becoming less of a Them and Me, and more of an Us. The Queen was quite pleased with my improvement, and even offered to give me a few pointers on magic.

I didn’t really know what to think of that. Of course I accepted, but I spent more time stuttering and avoiding eye contact than I did learning. Every time I ascended, the heat of embarrassment far exceeded the scalding temperatures of the magma below. But the Queen was understanding, if anything, and simply endured my struggles with a knowing look in her eye and a gentle smile.

I raised my right paw and focused, trying to bring the magic I had been trained in to mind. The idea was to make my scales so unnoticeable that I literally became a part of the shadows around me—a brand of magic that Shadow-Blenders have only been able to master thus far, and hence our name. But no matter how hard I focused, my claws barely even flickered. Sighing, I set my arm down and continued staring out into the terrifyingly deep and vast ocean.

A single flake of snow drifted from the sky and landed square on my nose. Huh?

Blinking, I twisted my neck and nearly jumped out of my skin at a massive behemoth of a cloud right behind me. It seemed to be imitating the night sky in the depths of its color, and it was pregnant with rain, snow, sleet, hail, and all that other wonderful stuff that makes flying _fantastic._

Groaning, I got to my feet and approached the lip of the entrance. The Queen would not be happy with this weather condition; we are required to find our own food, and while she does come first, she also cares about our well-being. We would only be able to hunt for brief amount of times in small hunting parties, and in doing so would probably have to wait another day for our own meals.

I slumped a little at the realization. The Queen was priority, after all. But I still hated being hungry, and I seemed to develop an empty stomach far quicker than any other dragon. It didn’t help that she hadn’t deemed me fit for village raids yet—only allowing me to either go fishing or wait on the outskirts of the islands to help haul in the kill back to the nest—which made finding my own food especially hard. The other Shadow-Blender sometimes offered me some of his portions, but made it _abundantly_ clear that it was out of pity and nothing else.

There was a low, nearly inaudible rumble of thunder from the cloud. It was directly overhead. I looked up at it for a split second in awe before returning down into my home.

* * *

 _I cannot guarantee your safety, my children, but know that you are perfectly safe if you fly low and stay close to safe landing areas_ , the Queen addressed us. _There is no need to halt all activities until the storm passes._

Verdict given, everyone got to work. The Shadow-Blender announced his hunting party, causing several dragons nearby to scramble to have the opportunity to hunt with him. Instead of walking to his side as I normally would, though, I stayed put. Doubt rooted me to the spot.

The Queen, having not gone back down into her hidey-hole yet, turned her head to eye me. _Is something wrong, little one?_ She asked.

I looked back over my shoulder and met the lime green eyes of the other Shadow-Blender. An uncomfortable hollowness filled my stomach and I turned away. “I just…” I pawed at the ground. “It feels…unsafe.”

It occurred to me that I could stay behind. _How nonsensical_ , I thought. _The Queen is always right._

“Nevermind. I’m just a little worried, is all,” I said with an uneasy smile. Our leader returned it and then disappeared below blood-red clouds.

There was a sharp jab in my side. I yelped, once again coming face to face with those unnerving, acidlike eyes. “What’s the matter with you?!” The Shadow-Blender growled. “Directly questioning the Queen? You’re lucky she didn’t punish you.”

I hung my head in shame. What _was_ I thinking, anyways? “Sorry,” was the best I could manage. “It won’t happen again.” I peeked up at him but kept my ears and frills low.

The Shadow-Blender’s harsh glare softened. He shook his head and sighed. “It better not. Let’s go.” He flew off without another word, and in seconds the air was filled with a tornado of colors as the others scrambled to follow. I jumped to catch up—smacking into a poor Hum-Wing in the process—and couldn’t help but stare longingly down at the nest as I drew further and further away from it.

* * *

“Are you ready?”

 _Nope._ “…yeah.”

The clustered groups of island were looming almost directly ahead, imposing and hostile. It was washed in the false dragon-fire of humans, and because it was largely devoid of vegetation on a grand number of them, the orange light fanned out far. The Shadow-Blender and I had arrived here early so that he could coach me on what and what not to do on my first mission involving humans.

Honestly, it kind of sucked.

I was expecting exciting stories of dragons who were intelligent and skillful and warnings of those who weren’t. Instead I was given a lesson on why humans are stupid, volatile creatures. As if I didn’t know that already.

A sharp slap from his tail upside the head had forced me to pay attention. After several more minutes, he _finally_ got to the actual advice on how to not, you know, die. At that time the raiding flock had come within eyeshot, and he had rushed to fill me in on all the life-saving info that was sure to come in handy if I were given enough time to absorb it all.

“Long story short,” the Shadow-Blender had said, “watch me if you get lost, stay out of sight, and _never_ let yourself get anywhere near the ground. Ever.”

I raised an eyebrow. Other dragons went to the ground all the time! Why would I, a powerful Shadow-Blender, fear the earth? “What happens if I do?”

“You die.”

On that cheery note, the flock of dragons flew directly overhead. At once, the both of us leaped off the pillar we had been on to join them. I couldn’t get rid of the broad smile the spread across my face; finally, I could do something useful and help my nestmates! I could finally help with our everlasting war against the humans, and show them the true strength of the Queen!

The Shadow-Blender flew down to my level and gave me a concerned look. “Are you sure you’re ready?” He asked.

I shifted midair uncomfortably. “Of course!” _But I’m certainly not ready for this change of heart of yours._

He nodded once, and the grumpy Shadow-Blender I knew so well replaced the one that would occasionally show up and shower me with worry. “Good. Make sure you follow my directions!” With a powerful flap of his wings he banked, circling the island towards the back. My ears perked at the signature buildup hiss of our kind, and the humans below began shouting and yelping _night fury get down!_ I was so fascinated that I almost missed the blue flame, the purplish shock wave, and the blinding white fire that faded to orange as it lost its intensity. The watch tower that the Shadow-Blender had struck gave a low moan and crumbled into the ocean. Some pieces of burning wood fell into one of the few surrounding forests, setting all of them to flames.

I tucked my wings and teeth in and filtered gas into my mouth, swooping low over a portion of the land that had not been touched. With enough force to jolt my body I let out my fire, sending it into the heart of the trees and fields, illuminating the night sky with devilish red light. I barely gained enough altitude to avoid being burned in time, but when I looked over my shoulder I was very happy to see the entire mini-island awash in _real_ fire.

A Hum-Wing flew over to me and shouted, “What are you doing?!”

“Setting the forests and crops on fire!” I pointed out the obvious. “They hunt a portion of their food from there, right? And they definitely grow their food there. Even if they don’t go to the forest a lot, it’ll still put a dent in their food supply and trade and weaken them.” If only I could scare the fish away from their islands as well!

The Hum-Wing was not convinced. “And in lighting the sky you have done their job for them and given away all of our positions!” He snapped, spitting out an unlit stone at my face.

I flinched and then bared my teeth at him. “Know your place!” I growled, shooting a small bit of my own fire at him. It hit him right beneath his eye. With a hiss, he turned and blundered down below to the village.

I watched him go with a hint of envy, though I hated to admit it. Somehow, I couldn’t stop staring at the buildings and feel almost drawn to them, but not in the way I observe fish or deer or other prey. I felt like I almost _belonged_ there…

 _No, you don’t_ , I decided. Shaking my head to try to remove such strange thoughts, I lifted myself closer and closer to the cloud-covered moon until I spotted another watch tower and dove for it, preparing another bolt of lightning-like fire. Off in the near distance, I easily picked up on the sound of the other Shadow-Blender doing this same. Below, the humans all seemed to falter, confusion clear on their faces when the iconic sound came from _two_ places instead of one. With a little chuckle, I sent down the watch tower, narrowly avoiding smacking right into it as it fell onto the island. On the other side of the island, another met the same fate.

The humans’ reaction was almost pitiful. It seemed like nearly half of them stopped dead in their tracks like a startled deer, and a few even screamed in fear. The Shadow-Blender did not hesitate and took down a second in their distraction, only adding more disharmony to the chaos.

I gained altitude again, eyes flinging back and forth. “Come on, gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at,” I whispered. I spotted one of the last towers just as it was taken down, and to my dismay realized that all of the rest were on the Shadow-Blender’s side of the island. We’d probably just bump into each other going for the same target, or worse: actually _hit_ each other with our fire.

My eye caught sight of a squat building with heavy doors and sturdy reinforcements. Several Vikings were coming in and out of it, always leaving with swords and axes and whatnot from the inside, but there was no light spilling out of the openings to the outside. In seconds I had recognized it, bearing no mind to _how_ I had managed such a feat. It was obvious, it made sense, so why should I worry?

 _The armory!_ The word came to me with a thrill. _If I take that out, they’re defenseless!_ I began to dive as the other Shadow-Blender smashed another tower to crisps, opening all of my magic reserves to allow the blast to be a little bit more—alright, a _lot_ more—explosive than usual. A twinge of doubt managed to creep into my mind; I hadn’t successfully used such strong magic in a fire blast in quite some time. But I was confident I could do it this time!

The magic was reluctant—it felt unnatural—but it did its job when I released my fire and _several_ plasma rings exploded from it as it burst down with an enormous, blinding crack that shone an impossible white, as if I had unleashed the wrath of the gods through my own body. It was so loud I couldn’t hear the humans’ reactions, so bright I was blinded and had to depend on the sound waves bouncing off nearby structures to make sure I didn’t whack right into one.

My vision finally returned once I had risen far out of reach and after a considerable amount of blinking. I looked down.

The armory was simply _gone._

“Yes!” I cried, doing a twirl midair. “Finally! Did anyone see that?” I looked around to see several of my tribemates hovering, gaping down at the scorch mark on the ground. Yes, it had drained a considerable amount of my magic, but totally worth it!

“Uh…why?” The left portion of a Two-Head asked awkwardly. “What was in there?”

I looped over to her, grinning from ear to ear. “Their weapons! Couldn’t you see?” At her blank look and tipped head, I just rolled my eyes and grinned. “It means that their only defenses are the ones they’re holding now.” I met the eyes of the numerous dragons that were nearby, but most of them either looked confused, worried, or even angry. My smile fell.

The Two-Head that had spoken looked at the scorch again. One head narrowed its eyes at me. “It’s a bit strange that you’re not doing…” there was a tremendous thunder and burst of purple light, and the last tower tumbled from then sky. “…that,” she finished, nodding towards the flaming wreckage.

Drooping, I mumbled, “I was just trying to help.”

The Two-Head then glanced over my shoulder, reared back with wide eyes, and flew away as fast as she could.

The wind screeched in a high-pitched whistle, and then the Shadow-Blender was in front of me, buffeted by the wind that had carried him across the island. “What were you thinking?!” He roared, teeth extended and ears pressed flat against his head.

I glanced around anywhere but him. “Well, I took out their armory—“

“I don’t care what you did!” He snapped, drawing closer. “I told you to stay away from the ground. Shadow-Blenders have had one job for centuries.”

Scowling right back, I said, “Even though we can be much more productive? Look!” I pointed a claw down at the black smear where the building had once been and then smirked at him as his eyes widened.

The Shadow-Blender’s jaw snapped shut with a _clink_ and he settled with a good, old-fashioned glare. “It’s still too dangerous. Don’t do it again.”

“Right, because nothing’s more useful than knocking down towers like a three-year-old.” I rolled my eyes and asked, “Don’t you want to do more?”

He seemed to consider this for a moment. “Well, I…” cutting himself off with a swift shake of the head, he ground out, “…no. No, as all dragons should, I know my place. But…” His eyes continued to dart back to where the armory had been, to me, and then drawn back again like a moth to a flame. He face scrunched up in intense concentration, and then he simply shook his head.

“I’ll talk to the Queen about it,” I decided. My head was beginning to pound like an earthquake had gone off deep inside my skull. Scrunching my eyes up at the pain, I said, “What do we do now?”

With a skillful spin the Shadow-Blender had every dragon accounted for. “It looks like everyone’s done. We should get this flare going.” At his command, all dragons within hearing distance began to spin around, back towards the comforting presence of the nest.

“Flare?” I parroted, having never heard the term before.

The Shadow-Blender waved his paw. “It’s just…an ancient term to describe groups of dragons that eventually stopped being used. Usually only the Queen says it,” he said with a slightly troubled look. He then seemed to shrug it off and said, “Come on, we need to get out of here.”

Sighing, I looked over my shoulder once more at the buildings, wondering why they seemed so familiar to me. A tiny glimmer of emerald caught my eye, illuminated in the fires left in my wake. Ignoring the Shadow-Blender’s protests, I spun around, straining my ears on it over the screams of the humans and the cracklings of the flames.

“Help! Please!” A childish voice was sobbing. “My wing! Please, help! Don’t leave me…”

I just barely managed to maneuver between the group without clipping my wings on anything, but once I got to the edge of it, I could locate the dragon calling out to us. It was a Little-Biter, who was now just barely in sight. It was curled up on a rooftop, and even from this distance I could tell that one wing was nearly torn right off. My heart sank.

With a short burst of speed I was right above him, landing gracelessly on top of the roof and struggling to keep from sliding down the steep incline. The baby dragon took one look at me and sprinted over, wrapping his legs around my own. “Thank you! Thank you! Oh, Dragoness of the Moon! Dragon of the Sun! Thank you!” He wailed, repeating the same sentences over and over in a hysterical mantra, shaking in happiness so thoroughly that his body was a blur.

“Um…,” I shook my head and cleared my throat. “Don’t worry. You’re safe now,” I said, keeping my voice low and gentle. Scooping the little thing up in my arms, I leaped off the roof as carefully as I could without jostling the poor thing’s injury.

_Fwish!_

I turned towards the noise somewhat lazily, so arrogant I was, to see a determined female Viking holding a…bow and arrow…!

“Ah!” I screeched when the spearhead hit me dead-center, piercing deep into my side. Flapping my wings much more hurriedly, as I should have done in the damn first place, I managed to avoid two more weapons sent my way before getting out of range. The Little-Biter was whimpering in fear and worry, his claws digging into my scales like little daggers. The new hole in my side sparked in response to the wind against it, sending little fingers of pain all throughout my left side. “Agh! Don’t worry, I’m fine,” I ground out, taking a short look at the arrow lodged in my body before turning away. Thank the gods the nest wasn’t too far.

The Shadow-Blender had already sent everyone else ahead, but fixed me with a glare that could boil winter away. Then, without saying anything, he spun and flew away.

* * *

The Queen was astonishingly placid about my apparent “dangerous activities” during the raid. She decided that Shadow-Blenders could help the raid more thoroughly than knocking down towers, but to keep the destruction at a minimum; while the humans were evil and better off dead, they were a major food source to our nest.

She made it _very_ clear that I was to _never_ go as close to a human as I did that night again. Taking in the scar on my side that was likely to be permanent, I empathized wholeheartedly.

* * *

The Shadow-Blender must have been offended by my complete refusal of his orders. That was the only way he could _still_ be mad at me a week since the raid.

It didn’t help that he was leading most of them nowadays, tirelessly working time and time again to feed the Queen and fully exploiting his new freedom.  Nobody seemed to notice that it was _my_ idea to allow Shadow-Blenders to work more in raids. They didn’t even give him credit, for that matter; almost overnight, it had become an accepted fact, a rule. Where dragons had once looked on with disapproval, they now didn’t even spare a second glance.

It was strange, I’ll admit. But I had other problems on my wings to worry about, and the Shadow-Blender was about 100% of them. He had never exactly forbidden me from joining him, but it still felt like it all the same.

I sighed, stretching my wings out to their fullest to better catch the thermal I was riding on. I had been so busy mulling over my thoughts that I’d forgotten my whole purpose in leaving the nest: hunting.

A flicker of reflected sunlight caught my eye. With a jerk of my wings I was racing towards it, eyes locked onto the fish as it saw its fate and attempted to swim away. It was child’s play scooping it out of the ocean with my fire and catching it, biting down right on the gills to ensure that it wouldn’t flap about when I returned to the nest. Spinning so fancily that even _I_ made myself proud, I began to backtrack towards the nest. The task used to be a little difficult, but once I had learned to use my side-frills to guide me towards the buzzing drone that was always present in the nest, it became second nature.

When I entered the mountain, I banked up instead of down. This drew a number of gasps and stares from those who had noticed, but I refused to release the fish into the pit. The Queen would understand why I needed this one. Besides, with the arrival of two Shadow-Blenders, the Queen had reduced the number of sacrifices exponentially. It was still sad to see them occur, though, and I made a note to myself to bring double the food back for her the next time I went hunting.

The Shadow-Blender was sleeping where he always did. I fought an urge to lie down next to him like it was the most natural thing in the world. For a week, I’d rested anywhere _but_ here, taken magic tutoring from other dragons, hunted without him. It had left me feeling…empty. I couldn’t explain it; all I knew was that I had to make it right.

Once I was close enough to him I let the fish drop from my mouth, landing with a lout splat in front of his nose. The obsidian dragon woke with a start, wings shooting open and eyes darting back and forth in a frenzy. When they finally settled on the cod, and then me, I lied down and trained my gaze on my feet.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “What I did was…wrong. I…I didn’t realize it was such a terrible thing to do.”

He stared at me for the longest time, his face masked with indifference. Then he said, “Have you learned your lesson?”

I nodded. “Never question the leader.”

His lip twitched upwards in a brief smile. “Well, yes. But you broke more than one rule that night. You went so close to the ground that a Viking sighted and shot you.” He closed his eyes and shuddered. Eyes burrowed in apparent confusion, he went on much more hesitantly, “And you also went against the Queen’s traditions,” he spoke this as if it was repulsive, “without asking her first.” With a tip of his head he waited, expectant eyes boring into my scales.

“Don’t question the leader or go near the ground, and ask the Queen fist if I want to do something different. Got it.” I nodded once.

Huffing, he shook his head for a moment. Then he grabbed the fish in his claws and ripped it in half, tossing me a piece. I took it without question.

We were chatting in no time.

* * *

The Shadow-Blender and I dropped, snapped our wings open, and fired into the ocean in perfect unison. I laughed and did a little spin. Finally! We’d done it right!

“Good,” my mentor praised, “but remember your objective. If you’re diving, don’t focus on your recovery. If you’re shooting fire, don’t focus on your tailfins. Once you learn to compartmentalize your thoughts, everything will come easier to you.” He looped and twirled in air to demonstrate this, even shooting fire into the sky, making it look like it was as easy as breathing. Settling into a hover like I was, he leveled his eyes to mine and said, “Even magic.”

I looked away. “I don’t know…”

Rolling his eyes, he pointed out, “You’ll never master it if you don’t even try. Here, follow me.”

I scrambled to follow him as he angled himself towards a low-lying, uninhabited island off in the distance. It was barely big enough to fit a few dragons on it. Still, apparently it was good enough, and so we landed there. Something was…odd, though.

“What’s that smell?” I asked, sniffing at the ground and pinpointing the oddly sour odor. I began to dig like a dog, squaring my hind legs and pawing at the ground.

The Shadow-Blender wasn’t very concerned. “You’re not focusing on your magic,” he said.

“I know, just…hold on,” I waved him off with a wing. “Just a—ah!” I yelped when my paw hit something sharp and solid. The Shadow-Blender was by my side in seconds, hovering just over my shoulder and sticking his nose down the hole in interest. I tried my best to work around him, sniffing the ground and taking in the sharp stench of metal. There was a small bit of gray sticking out of the dirt, and with a few more pulls against the earth, I was able to carefully hook a claw underneath it. I pulled it out…and then dropped the dumb thing right back in the hole in shock.

It was a helmet. The thing was circular and banged up, clearly having seen better days, and had two horns sticking out of it in an imitation of a dragon. I couldn’t rip my eyes off of it.

On some strange impulse, I ducked my head and set it on my forehead, sticking my ears up to keep it balanced between them. The Shadow-Blender’s eyes widened and he backed away, arching his back and spines bristling. A dull headache began to form deep beneath my eyes.

… _This feels familiar_ , I realized. The intensity of the headache burst, sudden and sharp like the slap of a scolding mother.

Still I smiled, pointing a claw at myself. “Look,” I joked, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m a Viking!”

The Shadow-Blender snarled and whipped his tail around, smacking the helmet off my head and sending it sailing into the ocean. In the same instant a supernova of pain exploded inside my head and I doubled over, whimpering and clawing at my ears and forehead, knees trembling and claws and teeth sheathing and unsheathing themselves involuntarily.

 _Sorry_ , I thought aimlessly. _Sorry._

The migraine fell away in short bursts. I imagined it as a skipping stone, brushing the edge of my consciousness with spines until it finally sunk with a much more diminished presence. In an effort to ward it off, I got to my feet and gave my body a good shake.

It was only then that I looked out to the ocean, wondering why I’d ever put such a putrid thing on myself and pretended to be a _Viking,_ a venomous creature, even _if_ I was joking. Not even hatchlings did that!

Slumping, I turned to the wary Shadow-Blender, who was also giving the direction he’d thrown the helmet in a disdainful look. “Sorry,” I said aloud. “Magic?”

He blinked and shook his head. “Right. Magic.” Taking a stone that I’d dug up in his claws, he narrowed his eyes in concentration and then set it down. “I just enchanted it so that it won’t break. Your job is the use your magic to counter it so that you can crush it.” He smiled somewhat uneasily. “It’s a fun little game I used to play as a hatchling. My mother would put a piece of meat inside a hollowed-out one and then make me crack it open to get it.”

I rolled the thing towards me and sat down, scrutinizing it. It was the size of my paw and smoothed by the ocean’s tides rolling over it. It looked easy enough. “Uh…,” just in case, I pushed my whole body weight on the tiny rock, but it remained unimpressed. “How?”

“Focus, remember? That’s what I was telling you earlier,” he sat down and licked a paw, running it over his nose. “Just activate your magic and let yourself feel the power drifting around it.”

I nodded and cupped the stone in both paws. Reaching towards the little ball of light in my mind, I let it expand to just a little under its greatest limit. I had learned in my past tutoring seconds that fully immersing myself in the light of my magic resulted in a splitting headache exactly like the one I’d just experienced, and I doubted I would be able to put myself through two of them and still be able to fly straight.

My magic reached out and latched onto the object in my paws, putting a small grin on my face. I could feel the flow of his magic wisp over the stone like a fog-choked atmosphere, so thick it was almost physical. I imagined my own magic as a spear that could crack into it, shatter it—and with that image in mind I _focused_ , concentrating every ounce of mental stamina I could into the illusion of the weapon. When I felt that I had concentrated my efforts enough, I forced it all down at once.

Nothing happened.

Squeezing my eyes tighter, I tried again, becoming more and more frustrated at my failure. In response my magic flared with power and I quickly snapped my paws down to take advantage of it, only to end with the _same_ result. Sending a gust of air out of my nostrils, I made myself single all of my thoughts onto the simple task, coating the stone in layer after layer of magic.

“Slow down,” the Shadow-Blender warned, his voice distant. I jumped a little when something brushed against my paw.  I knew it was him, of course; he would have to read my magic to know that I was doing it right, after all, and so he had likely placed his paw on the pebble right next to mine. “Don’t wear yourself out. You only need to cover my magic.” Once his voice had gone, I felt a gush of loneliness bowl me over—and with it, some of my magic receded. The fleeing magic dragged the rest like a cyclone, leaving only a slight dusting over the Shadow-Blender’s.

“Focus on taking the physical magic and replacing it with yours. Don’t try to break it and waste all your magic, just move it aside. Create a hole and then spread it from there.”

I did as I was told, trying to wedge my own will onto his and suffering a tiny twinge of pain. But I managed to push my own magic all the way down to the surface, and in excitement snapped it out—

—and immediately felt as though firesparks had lit up inside my head, scorching me from the inside out! Two bright lights appeared in my mind’s eye when my magic reached its maximum power, scalding me from the inside out!

I snapped my eyes open and leaped away with both my magic and my body, backing away from the harmless-looking stone and sniffing at it warily. “That…hurt,” I said, and then hung my head. “Ugh. I’m the worst magic-user _ever._ ”

The Shadow-Blender was silent, which did loads to my self-esteem. “It’s a new subject to you. Strange, though, how different your magic is,” he mused, bring a hind leg up to scratch behind his ear. “It’s a bit foreign, which is probably why it reacted that way to mine. Different types of magic don’t mix well, after all. It’s probably because you’re not from around here like the rest of us.”

I groaned and kicked the offending stone away, watching it spin into the water and sink without satisfaction. “Great. I’m the only dragon in the nest with different magic. At least I can say I’m a special snowflake,” I complained, pacing across the small island with my head low.

“Oh, you’re special, all right,” the Shadow-Blender smirked and stood up, unfazed by my little temper-tantrum. “The sun’s starting to set. Let’s go hunt before it gets too dark to see the fish.”

For once I was the first one to take wing, all too eager to get off the island. “Why is it always fish?” I asked the Shadow-Blender, who had yet to take off. “Why not deer?”

He raised an eyebrow and leaped up to my level with the kind of fluid grace that just wasn’t fair. “We need to stay close to the nest. Besides, do _you_ want to carry an _entire_ deer back to the nest?”

“…well, when you put it that way…”

“That’s what I thought.”

* * *

I was going to win this time.

Crouched low and ears pinned to my head, I crept in the shadows of the nest, depending on the surrounding commotion to mask the slight tapping noises my claws made on the rock beneath me. For a brief moment I attempted to blend myself with the shadows, but gave up rather quickly when I realized that I would just waste energy and precious time.

I inched closer, closer...closer!

My heart was hammering, my tail twitching despite my demands for it to lie still. Finally I could take it no longer, bundled my legs up, and leaped!

I smacked right onto my target and sunk my gums into his neck, letting loose the most menacing growl I could muster. He yelped and then flung himself to the ground, crushing me and forcing me to release my hold no matter how hard I clamped on!

Then he sat on me to insure my fate.

“You know,” the Shadow-Blender pondered, shifting ever-so-slightly so that I would feel the pain of his fatness, “I think we’ve already established that I always win.”

* * *

_I have a mission for you two._

The Shadow-Blender and I both perked up at the exact same time and bowed, mirror images of each other. The Queen frowned for just a second before her neutral expression returned.

 _It would be most helpful if you, along with a flare of a few others, scouted some of the nearby unexplored islands. We are running low on resources and the winter season is approaching. You are free to scout anywhere you see fit, but there is one island that you must not go to: the large mountainous one with the forested islands around it, home to a large tribe of Vikings. It has a hole in the mountain where humans cage up dragons—you’ll know it right when you see it. They are too dangerous to approach, even in the cover of night._ We nodded, which pleased her. _Leave at dusk, my children. And good luck!_ She descended, and we rose to our feet.

“Awesome!” I cheered, bouncing a little circle around the more reserved Shadow-Blender. “This is going to be so cool!”

The Shadow-Blender nodded like he did this every day. Already a posse had formed, consisting of a few Two-Walkers, a Hum-Wing and Flame-Skin, and several Little-Biters. The one I had saved what felt like ages ago had lost his wing, but I let him climb onto my back anyways. He always followed me around when he could—otherwise, he risked being seen as a burden and becoming a sacrifice to the Queen. I knew it was the proper thing to do, but I enjoyed the company, and he was such a nice little fella. He beamed at me and pulled my ear playfully.

“Is this everyone who wants to come?” The Shadow-Blender called out. Nobody responded, and he nodded in approval. “Good. The smaller, the better.” Facing his group, he ordered, “Meet here when the sun is sitting on the ocean. Make sure you eat well today.”

The Little-Biter pulled on my ear again, this time with a sense of urgency. “Um…Shadow-Blender?” He put his tiny feet on my forehead and bent over, looking at me upside-down. “Can I borrow some of your food?” He asked it fearfully, as if fully expecting me to throw him off right then and there—which, I guess, most other dragons would have done, especially when he made such direct eye contact. I understood his desperation, though, and had no trouble smiling.

“Of course, Little-Biter. You can come with us.” The Shadow-Blender huffed loudly and I narrowed my eyes at him. He only seemed to like to share food with me, even if the Little-Biter had a miniscule appetite. He slid back down my neck and curled up between two of my spines, wrapping his tail around one in case he fell.

“Here we go,” the Shadow-Blender rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to pity him so much, you know.”

 _He’s right_ , was my first thought. I froze, turning around to look at him. Why had I even considered that? He was my friend—not a nuisance!

“He needs help,” I said, trying to chase the shame away. “If it were me, you’d do the same.” Unable to come up with a witty response, the Shadow-Blender blinked and looked away, which was enough for me. “How ‘bout we just…go hunt?” I asked, keeping my tone light. I didn’t want to get in another fight, and I could only hope he didn’t either.

He looked at the Little-Biter one more time and, shaking his head, stretched his wings and leaped into the air. “You’re lucky I’m a generous dragon,” he said.

“Oh, sure, _you’re_ the generous one,” I laughed.

We launched out of the top of the nest into a pleasant, brisk day. The sun was at its highest point in the sky, leaving us with plenty of time to find food. The Shadow-Blender banked hard and I struggled to catch up, feeling a slight tug on the spines that the Little-Biter was holding onto. Soon we were level with each other, traveling in a direction I was unfamiliar with.

“Where are we going?” The Little-Biter squawked at the Shadow-Blender, deeming it safe to stop holding on for dear life and scrambling to the top of my spine. When the Shadow-Blender made a very big show of ignoring him, he sunk and returned to his previous spot in defeat.

I gave the Shadow-Blender a look. He groaned.

“We’re going to an island,” he grumbled, barely loud enough to be heard.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I said. He snorted and looked away, mumbling to himself about me being too nice to lower dragons.

We carried on in silence—awkward silence. The Little-Biter fidgeted every so often but made a valiant effort to be as unnoticeable as possible. I would glance at my kin every so often, but whenever he _was_ looking my way, it was an angry look aimed right at the Little-Biter. After about an hour of gliding on air currents I gave up and just hoped that everyone would lighten up when we got to the island.

* * *

Gods. It got worse.

So. Much. Worse.

* * *

The sky was stained with purple and deep blue, the sun a half-moon in the distance and the clouds shimmering in His wake. All of us were clustered together on the top of the nest, waiting for the Shadow-Blender’s signal to take off. Several conversations were going on at once, giving off a drone of voices that could never be pinpointed to one spot. I sat at the edge of an outcropping, the Little-Biter clinging to one of my spines, and let my gaze travel over the group.

I still felt like an outsider.

Sighing, I looked over at the Shadow-Blender besides me. He was surveying the group with careful eyes. He glanced at me for a second, a phantom of a smile crossing his lips, and then barked wordlessly to gain the attention of the others. He spread his wings wide above us, paused as we all prepared ourselves, and with a single flap threw himself off the mountain.

I rushed to take position on his right, being the second-highest in rank due to my stronger magic. The eldest of the group then took their places to my right, each a little bit further out. The youngest situated themselves on the Shadow-Blender’s left. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw a Little-Biter, so old even her eyes were grayed, directly behind me and puffed up in pride. It was more than a little amusing seeing the mountain-sized Flame-Skin behind her giving her a look that could only be summed up as pure jealousy. Despite “automatically” being higher in rank to her due to his species, her superior magic skills earned her the right to be up here, and _dang_ was he taking it hard.

The Little-Biter on my back caught my gaze and grinned. He grabbed my ear in a claw and whispered, “She’s blind, but she doesn’t even need her magic to know where she’s going!” He wiggled a little bit in excitement and said, “I want to be just like her!”

“I’m sure that would make her and the Queen very proud,” I encouraged. You go, wingless guy! You could totally do it!

“Don’t stray out of your position, little one!” The Little-Biter we’d just been speaking about warned. She grabbed the tip of my tail in her mouth and pulled a little bit to the right. I started a bit, took a few seconds to realize that my placement had created drag for those behind me, and swooped back into my proper spot. I still had problems flying in formation. We only flew in pointed patterns when traveling long distances or to conserve energy, since the arrowhead-like shape almost acted as if we were all one big, aerodynamic creature instead of several flying very close to each other. The Shadow-Blender had deducted that there was a large chance we would face the Vikings, and so wanted to make sure we didn’t waste anything. It also cemented that the weaker dragons to the left didn’t have to work so hard.

I called my sheepish thanks over my shoulder to the female Little-Biter and set my focus on staying right where I was. Thank the gods I was able to keep from wavering again; it would make the already embarrassing situation even worse if the _blind_ dragon had to correct my path _twice_. Very impressive for her, very horrible and cringe-worthy for me.

We flew south, the setting sun illuminating the whole right quadrant of dragons and making them look as if they’d been bathed in the Dragon of the Sun’s power. It would not last for long, though. By the time we approached the first island, the ocean below had become as black as the sky. The Shadow-Blender chirped and then gained altitude. The rest of us followed like little ants until we were above the patchy cloud cover and evened out.

This island was small, unfamiliar, and dotted with a few Vikings houses and pastures. It was full of hills and waterfalls, even in the main portion of the village that had settled in a little dip. There was hardly any woodland to speak of, but plenty of open fields that were fenced off. I sighed in relief; at least this one wasn’t a complete waste after all.

“Remember, we are checking resources and nothing else,” the Shadow-Blender shouted above the howling wind. “We’ll hunt for food tomorrow morning for the Queen.” Various cries were given in confirmation.

We dove.

With a few jerks of his head the team dispersed: the elders to the docks, the young to the sheep fields, and the Shadow-Blender, Little-Biter, and I to circle the village. While the Queen had not told us to do so, we’d discussed earlier that it would be our job to check how well-equipped the humans were on each village. It was good and dandy to raid a village full of food, but it would just _suck_ if they could give a proper fight. As the Queen would say, we would lose more than we’d gain.

“Alright, I can’t see any towers anywhere, so that’s a good start,” I said. No towers meant either a lack of resources, no knowledge on how to fight dragons (i.e. actually being able to _see_ them), or sheer arrogance. All of which were preferable to exploit in human settlements.

“I can’t see anything…” the Little-Biter whimpered, gripping one of my horns as if his life depended on it.

The Shadow-Blender grunted. “I think we should get closer. Let’s go.”

My protest died in my throat when he went ahead without me. Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I dropped until I was level with him. Worried, I glanced up towards the moon; it hadn’t risen all the way yet, but soon it would, and we’d be easily spotted.

That is, if there were any humans around. All of the houses were dark, even though we knew that Vikings didn’t go to bed as soon as the sun set. No wonder the Shadow-Blender was being so daring; his keen vision must have spotted the absence of Vikings far before I did.

Our leader sniffed the air and then drew back in surprise. “There aren’t any fires. But this place isn’t abandoned.”

My brow creased in confusion. Craning my neck, I flicked my eyes back and forth to try and find a cause for this sudden disappearance.

There, near the edge of the village, seemed to be a central hall built similar to a castle. It was formidable, bearing stone carvings of angry human gods and a thick set of wooden doors just begging someone to try to force open. Said doors were practically glowing with orange light seeping out of the cracks. A faint rumble of voices was barely detectable on the wind, almost like ghosts whispering secrets into our ears.

 _They’re all there_ , I realized. I turned to the Shadow-Blender. “They’re all over there. Let’s go see if we can find any storages or stocks anywhere.” Pulling my wings in, I let gravity place its grip on me and landed right in the center of the dead street, galloping forward and looking in every direction I could, ears perked.

The Shadow-Blender landed right in front of me with a heavy _thud_ , bristling and teeth bared. “Have you learned nothing!?” He hissed. “The Queen specifically told _you_ to never go to the ground! Or do you want to get _shot_ again?”

“Look around!” I said, waving my paw in a broad half-circle. “We’re completely alone.”

“Y-yeah,” The Little-Biter finally spoke up, although his stance was shaky. “This place is barren.”

The Shadow-Blender paused, sniffing the air and swiveling his ears. “I don’t care! You should have asked permission first. Actually, no; you should have listened to the Queen and just stayed up there! Don’t!” He interrupted me when I began to defend myself. He opened his wings. “We’ll discuss this later. Let’s see if they have any reserves.”

“That’s what I wanted to do in the first place,” I grumbled. Lifting my wings with the full intent to follow, I was halfway into a crouch when I spotted a building with a swinging door out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t help but run over and poke my head in; it was so open and vulnerable, if anything of value was in it, stealing it would be simple! So I was more than a little disappointed to discover that it was a smithy.

I stepped inside, and the Shadow-Blender had no choice but to land and follow me in after failing to call me back up.

Despite his obvious discomfort, he began searching for food. “Ugh, this place is filled with coal and this shiny…rock…stuff, “ he pointed out the obvious, poking warily at a metal sharpener. A nearby bucket caught his attention and he stuck his head in it, only to decide that that was a mistake and flinging it behind him.

Towards me.

I yelped and failed to react in time, receiving a nice whopper to the face. “Ow!” I groaned, bending over and rubbing my nose. “Wow, thanks.”

“That’s what you get for being stupid,” The Shadow-Blender scolded without facing me, rearing up on his hind legs to check out a shelf of weaponry.

I gave him a flat look. “You’re the one who followed me.”

“I was making sure you and your little friend were safe.”

The Little-Biter gasped and jumped around my head in excitement. “ _He likes me!_ ” He squealed. “ _Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!_ ” He halted mid-cheer to ask, “Can I sit on you, too?”

I smirked as the Shadow-Blender whipped around, ears and frills sticking up. “Yes, why don’t you give him a ride?”

The Shadow-Blender glared at me. “This is not a time for joking!” And out the back door he went. The Little-Biter huffed and lied down on my forehead. Chuckling, I began to tread towards the door, but couldn’t help but stare at the circular sharpener.

A few seconds of searching later, I found the pedal and pressed it, watching it go round and round. A strange sort of lightness bubbled up in my chest, like I was recalling a fond memory. For just a moment, I envisioned a duo of formless masses beckoning to me.

A thought-crushing headache sent me sprinting away.

* * *

About an hour of wandering through the shadows passed. We had found three storages filled to the brim with food and, unfortunately, several armories. The latters were terrifyingly well-equipped, large in area, and smack in the middle of the village. It forced us to come the grim conclusion that the island was too dangerous to be raided, even as a last resort—it was just too formidable. The Queen would rather have less food than less dragons.

We perched on a tree that was big enough to hold our weight to discuss our options, although both of us were still angry at our waste of time (and also at each other).

“It’s time to go to a different island,” the Shadow-Blender said. “It’s no use searching here now.”

I sighed, slumping. “And it’s filled with so much food, too. They must be fantastic traders.”

He gave me an odd look, as if I’d gone off in a different language. “…Yeah. We—“

“Look out!” The Little-Biter interrupted, speaking up for the first time since the smithy. The Shadow-Blender scowled at his interruption, teeth bared, but before he could do anything the dragon squeaked, “Human right over there!”

He must have pointed, because the Shadow-Blender snapped to attention behind us. I scurried to turn around, nearly tumbling out of the tree and unsheathing my teeth.

A little girl holding a battered dragon doll designed like a Two-Leg was standing right at the base of the tree. Her eyes were wide and her face pale; clearly, she’d come out of a house nearby and had not expected to come face-to-face with three full-grown dragons sitting in her front yard.

She took a step back and a deep breath.

 _She’s going to warn the others!_ I realized in horror. I got to my feet to try to do something—what, I didn’t know—but we couldn’t let her alert the warriors!

The Little-Biter seemed to have realized this at the same time. He was on the ground in a flash, astonishingly fast despite his disability, and before the girl could even bring her arms up to defend herself she was tackled to the ground. He slammed a paw onto her mouth and gnashed his teeth at her flailing arms, taking skin and flesh and drawing deep pools of blood.

“Stop!” I cried, rushing forward to help her. “She’s just a kid!” I snapped my jaw around the scruff of his neck and jumped into the air, flapping furiously and almost smacking the human child in the neck with a wing. The Shadow-Blender lingered, raising a lip in revulsion at the sobbing child curled on the ground before joining me.

“Why did you do that?!” The Little-Biter demanded as I transferred him to my paws so he could climb back up to my neck. “It was just a human!”

My head was starting to spin from another migraine. “It’s just…she was so young. You could have killed her,” I tried to sort my thoughts. Why _had_ I done that? What was wrong with me, saving a pathetic human? Not even a full cycle of the moon ago, I’d nearly lost my life to one’s arrow!

Gods, I was an idiot.

“One less Viking to deal with,” the Shadow-Blender said. “They may look harmless when they’re that small, but you must remember that they’ll grow up to hate and kill you. You shouldn’t have intervened anyways. That would be _my_ job. And don’t think you’re out of trouble for earlier.” I curled up a little, ears drooping. I’d completely disrespected him— _twice._ That was probably the fastest way into his “Do Not Like” list. The Little-Biter nuzzled the back of my neck in an attempt to comfort me, but it was a wasted effort.

We were just below the clouds when he let loose a roar. It echoed off the buildings and the hills, giving me a refined mental picture of what the village looked like. I ducked underneath him and rose to his right.

Both of the teams were quick to respond. In less than a minute our posse was back together.

“Why so early?” A Two-Walker far back on the left asked. “We found plenty of sheep.”

“And why do I smell blood?” A dragon a ways behind me piped up. The Little-Biter made himself smaller, suddenly self-conscious.

Exchanging a grim look with me, the Shadow-Blender sighed, “This island is too dangerous. Their weapon store is just…unbelievable.” He shook his head. “We’re heading to the big one a little west from here now…I think that one’s much safer.” He shifted his flight just a little to set us in the right direction.

We carried on in relative quiet. I longed for conversation, or at least for something to break the silence, but nobody seemed to mind the uncomfortable absence of sound.

Several minutes into the journey, a large ship came into view. A few dragons mumbled in anxiety, but we never strayed from our course. When we passed directly overhead, I saw a thin man with black hair and a hat spy us through a telescope and immediately grab some parchment and a pencil, scribbling furiously. I frowned, hoping that he had only made out our formation and not that there were _two_ Shadow-Blenders.

I couldn’t place why, but I _really_ didn’t want the Vikings to know about me. It just made me feel unnerved and exposed.

Soon enough we came upon the island, much larger in comparison to the last and flat. It had a huge dip in its center, where the majority of the village was placed. We weren’t as lucky as the last time; most of the houses were shining brilliantly.

We enacted the same plan as last time: elders to the more dangerous areas, the young to the fields, and the Shadow-Blender, Little-Biter, and I in between to look over the village’s welfare. We circled, wings stretched wide, and attempted to make sense of the labyrinth that was this city-like group. But even I, with my strange knowledge of human ways, couldn’t make heads or tails of anything, just that everything was occupied. Great.

So, instead of being productive, we just spun around hoping nobody got caught for an hour and a half. I asked the Shadow-Blender if I could go off to help one of the groups, but he pointed out that if one flare needed help, I’d most likely be on the opposite side of the island.

I hung in the air, letting my legs and head dangle. “You know, somehow I was under the impression that being useful was a lot more than just spinning around and around and around...”

The Shadow-Blender grunted. “I’m frustrated, too. But we need to be on the lookout for trouble. We’ll be the only ones to see a group of Vikings gaining on the others since they’re mostly searching the ground.” He pointed towards the ships, where the tail of the Flame-Skin could just barely be seen peeking through some trees as he sniffed around for stores.

I _so_ did not see why we _both_ had to be up here bored to tears, but I stopped complaining. The Queen had told me to stay away, after all. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for completely forgetting that order.

Several more minutes passed before, _finally_ , the elders returned and informed us that they’d seen quite a few reserves and very little ships (although we could already tell that just from looking at the island). I perked up at this implication that the village had either very few resources or been in a chaotic battle recently, but the others didn’t seem so happy. It was only until I pointed this out that they started to get optimistic.

Soon after the rest of the party returned, bringing news of plenty of forestland but few fields.

“It must be a trading village,” I said. “So they’ll have lots of stores. Considering how little ships they have, they’re probably not very well-respected yet. That means they’re going to have a good defense,” I concluded with an exasperated huff. We were so close, too! I’d thought that this would be a lot easier, but I was slowly beginning to realize that “human” and “danger” were quite synonymous.

The Shadow-Blender nodded. While I could still detect anger in his eyes, he was at least mature enough to not let it cloud his judgment. “Alright. Next island, then.”

* * *

We stopped by seven more islands in the cloak of night, two of which were too hostile, three determined hunting grounds, and the last two decided as backup islands either because of humans or too little wildlife. Considering the loss of the island of the humans that had massacred several teams’ worth dragons, it was a great, yet exhausting find. We eventually descended on an unoccupied island that was essentially a huge pebble beach.

Most of the dragons took quick use of the stones and superheated them with fire, settling down and falling asleep easily. I sat down next to the Shadow-Blender. The second I did, he got up and padded away without looking back.

I lowered my head to my paws and watched him go. The Little-Biter curled up next to my cheek and told me that trying to adjust to their society was a long and tedious process. Even so, it still stung that the Shadow-Blender could leave me so easily.

* * *

The next morning a Hum-Wing found a school of fish and managed to chase them onto the shore with her fire blasts, allowing the majority of the rest of us to simply wade into the water and snap the flailing things out of the air as they tried to jump to safety. I managed to fill my gullet and stomach up all the way, which brought a rare sense of satisfaction to my otherwise depressing journey.

I tried to offer the Shadow-Blender one of the fish I’d caught—in front of everyone, too—but he was unabashed. I began to realize that I had hurt him on a much deeper level than disrespect, but how and why escaped me.

“Please…tell me what’s wrong,” I said, grabbing his arm.

He wrenched his paw away and stalked towards me, eyes narrowed. “You not only disobeyed and ignored me, but you did the same to the _Queen_ ,” he said, his voice so low and dangerous that I would have much preferred yelling. Lowering his volume even more, he leaned in until we were nose-to-nose. “You will be punished.” Yup, I definitely liked the yelling better.

The Shadow-Blender turned away, tail swishing, and called out to the others that we were heading home. I avoided eye contact with everyone, head and tail low. A few gave some angry snorts as they passed by. The Little-Biter sat between my front feet and watched them go.

I flew in last position on the left.

* * *

The Queen called both of us down to her domain within an hour of our return. Word spreads fast around the nest—especially if someone does something as stupid as defying the Queen. I flew below the fog fully expecting to become a sacrifice and regretting all of my actions I had done the night before with every bone in my body.

She waited, head turned to look at us, while we settled down on the nearest outcropping. Dropping down on it soft, I hissed when the stone burnt my paws. The Shadow-Blender glanced at me for a second, eyes steely, and returned his attention to our Queen.

 _Shadow-Blenders,_ she began, _I have heard rumors of you two wandering about the human’s land in plain sight. Is this true?_

The Shadow-Blender recoiled and ducked his head, teeth bared and one slit pupil staring at me. I shrunk away, belly close to the ground.

Nodding, I said, “Y-yes, Your Majesty.” Taking a deep breath, I straightened up and lifted my head to meet her eye. “It was my fault. He told me to stay above ground, but I decided that it was safe and walked into a building. He followed me to make sure I didn’t get hurt,” I said earnestly, turning towards the Shadow-Blender.

_Is this true, Shadow-Blender?_

His eyes were enormous in shock. He must have expected me to lie, or for me to make it sound like it was his fault, too. Swallowing, he ripped his attention from me and nodded once. “It is. But I—“ he looked down at his feet, back at me, and then down again, conflicted. “I lingered. I could’ve dragged him out, but I searched around for some time.”

The Queen sighed. It was full of disappointment and sadness. Out of impulse I inched towards the Shadow-Blender, but stopped just before we came into physical contact.

 _You are lucky you are standing here, Shadow-Blenders. How easy would it have been for you to be cornered in there? Even grounded in an open field, your chances of survival are severely diminished. There is a reason I forbid such dangerous activities unless it is completely necessary._ She paused, eyeing us to judge our reactions. _I applaud your honesty with me, however. So you shall not be punished as severely as you would have been if you’d attempted to lie._

I tipped my head to the side a little, trying to squash any relief building up in my heart. I hadn’t been given my verdict, after all.

 _Both of you are prohibited to participate in raids and missions for a full cycle of the moon starting today. When that time has passed, you may return to your duties. You are allowed to travel the radius of a half-day’s flight outwards in any direction outside the nest. Be warned_ , she turned her nose towards us, showing her teeth just a tiny bit. _This is your only chance._

Both the Shadow-Blender and I fell into bows at the same time. My heart was hammering so loud, I could barely hear the Queen dismiss us. It wasn’t until the Shadow-Blender hurried his black butt out of the pit that I realized the Queen had sunken into her lava pit and was no longer speaking to us.

I followed him to a platform, where he was lying down with half-lidded eyes. He was shaking. I was as well, although it was much more noticeable when I was standing. It didn’t help that the dragons that noticed our presence all wore mixtures of shock and confusion at the fact that we had survived our experience with the Queen, outright staring at the two of us.

When I finally stopped staring around at everyone, I turned to the Shadow-Blender. He was watching me, troubled. “…thank you, for telling the truth.”

I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace being forced to warp into something that resembled happiness. “It really was my fault. I’m so sorry you got caught in the crossfire.”

Looking at his claws, he said, “I was half of the problem. But.” He narrowed his eyes. “You keep _doing_ this. You get told to do something and then just… _ignore_ it. Even by your own Queen. “How could you?” He turned to me, agonized. “How could you be so disloyal? How could you be so _different?_ ”

I sat down. “I…” I looked at my claws. “I don’t know.”

_I wish I wasn’t like this._

* * *

We hunted together for the first half-cycle, but began to drift apart. Instead of working together every day it was every other day. It became an uncertainty whether we would see each other. Sometimes he wouldn’t go to our meetup spot. Sometimes I wouldn’t either, hiding out of sight and watching him scan the nest for me, droop, and leave.

While we both enjoyed each other’s’ company, a rift had grown between us, and it was evolving into a canyon.

I couldn’t explain it. I _wanted_ to be with him, but at the same time I didn’t. I would think things like “ _you don’t need him_ ” and “ _he doesn’t want you_ ” out of nowhere. At first I would be baffled, but there was still the fact that he was _still_ cross with me for everything I had done despite my constant apologies.

Why should I deal with someone that stubborn?

…and still, I missed him. I saw him every day. I even slept next to him again. He still covered me with his wing when I got cold, and I always shared food with him, even if I’d gotten it without him. We were…friends? Sometimes, at least.

I felt like I’d lost something, like I’d had a jigsaw puzzle near completion, only to have someone incinerate all the pieces in a venemous blast of fire.

* * *

With winter came the ice. It was slow at first, engulfing first the islands and their tiny lakes. It drifted from the sky in the form of snow and hail. Eventually the ocean surrendered to the frigid temperatures and solidified up north, taking with it our main food source.

The hard times had come, and I had no idea what to do with myself. Fishing was my main staple. It was how I’d provided for myself and the Queen. Now I would be forced to hunt on land, possibly even steal food from humans—the former I’d only done occasionally, and the latter I’d never even attempted.

The Shadow-Blender and I remained paradoxically close and distant at the same time. We worked on my magic, which had not improved at all besides strengthening the few abilities I already had. On the plus side, we also sharpened my flight techniques, which had improved quite well. I wasn’t nearly as fast or agile as the Shadow-Blender, but _damn_ , was I was getting there. It was the one good thing about the cold season that kept me going.

On a particularly haily day, the Queen decided that we needed to scout out more islands. Our resources were so stretched that she separated us: the Shadow-Blender in the direction we’d gone last time, and I in the opposite.

I was a bit nervous.

As the storm was letting up, the Shadow-Blender pulled me aside. “Do exactly as we did some time ago. You must stay in between your two groups at all times, especially when we are at our weakest,” he told me, stomping his foot for emphasis on ‘especially’.

“I know,” I said. “I promise I’ll do good this time.”

He smiled, brief and relieved and worried all at once, and turned away. He called his team to attention with a quick roll-call and led them out of the nest. They were all so loyal to him, following his every command…

I turned to my own company sitting patiently behind me. They were as focused on me as they would have been on the Shadow-Blender.

I couldn’t help but give them all a grateful smile. I waited for the Little-Biter to climb onboard and gave a single nod. We took wing, riding the thermals out of the nest. I looked out towards where the Shadow-Blender had gone, barely spotting them among the horizon, as if they were insects. For a few seconds I hung midair wishing with all my heart to be with him, to have that imagined bond that never was. Then I sighed and led us away.

As expected, the others were content with staying to their own thoughts, and we passed on in general quiet save for the flapping of our wings and the wind rushing past in a steady droll. I used to be deeply unsettled by this silence—and, to be honest, I still didn’t really like it that much—but now I found a strange sort of comfort in it, the kind that only comes from when words are no longer needed and all that is left is you and your friends enjoying each other’s presence. For at least two hours we passed on that way.

That is, until the dullness was finally brought to an end.

They appeared as dim figures on the horizon at first: odd, bright flecks of color that were about our level in the sky. For the longest time I could only perceive movement, not whether they were moving closer or further away. I’d begun to chalk it up as strange daytime auroras when the dragon to my left exclaimed, “Dragons!”

I gave him a dry look. “Yes. There’s, like, fifteen of us.”

He scowled, throwing his head. “No! Over there!”

And so there were. The mixes of colors had shifted from simple blotches to complex shapes, wings and tails and spines. I reared a little in surprise. Who were these dragons? Surely they were not from the nest; we were the first group out in this area, and the Queen would not waste resources by pointing two teams in the same direction.

 _Go to them_ , I thought. Shouting over my shoulder that we were going to speak with them, I pushed on the speed until I could make out the leader’s eyes of the next group—a Two-Head, it seemed. Both heads shared a glance, one baffled and the other wary, and brought their small cluster of seven or so dragons into a hover. I did the same, and my much more formidable party surrounded them.

“Greetings!” One head said. “You certainly are an odd sight. A Shadow-Blender, all the way up here where the humans live and the waters freeze!”

“And to think you’d all been hunted to extinction,” the other head mused.

I tipped my head to the side. What? Humans were awful creatures, but to take out an entire species of higher Shadow-Blenders was absurd. “Where are you from?” I asked, studying each individual dragon as long as I could. Many of them were skinny, even by my standards, and from the distance between us I could still smell remnants of fire and blood and illness about them. They looked like they’d been through hell and just barely escaped.

 _They’re in need of help. You have to bring them back_ , I understood before anyone had spoken.

“South,” a Hum-Wing on the leader’s right answered. “Our nest was hit by illness and we fled to look for a cure. After nearly two moon-cycles we found one, only to come back home and find it crawling with humans.” She shook her head and said, “Whether the nest died out beforehand or was seized, we still aren’t sure. But we are all that is left of our tribe.”

The Little-Biter sitting in between my ears drooped. “Oh,” he whispered, “those poor dragons.”

 “You look…well, awful,” I began. “Why don’t you come stay with us until you regain your strength?” Those from the Queen’s nest nodded, voicing their insistence.

The Two-Head—their King, I realized—gaped in shock, “You are very kind, but we wouldn’t want to be a burden!”

A Two-Walker on his left nudged him with her foot. “We really do not have a choice,” he whispered. “We need food and our magic is far too low.” His superior frowned, clearly caught between pride and necessity, and the Two-Walker pressed, “Your daughter will not maintain flight much longer!”

All attention was turned on a little Two-Walker, barely taller than a human child, who attempted to hide under the massive wings of a Flame-Skin in front of her. But even as she hid, it was easy to spot the scarring of her body and wings. She had been attacked by a predator—a mountain lion, perhaps—and had not had the chance to recover. Something about the holes in her wings, the way they slowly inched open further and further apart like wary guests, was so familiar that it gave me a headache when I thought too much about it.

Luckily for everyone, this seemed to strike a chord in the Two-Head. His eyes spoke of agony, of unending pain that sunk its teeth into his heart night after night, of guilt that refused to be warded off. I could empathize despite not knowing why, and was not surprised when he closed his eyes in defeat and said, “We would all greatly appreciate if you would allow us to stay with you, Shadow-Blender.”

It was my turn to have all eyes on me. I grinned a little nervously and nodded. “Of course! Let’s go right now. The nest isn’t too far away.” Tucking my wings in, I dropped and twirled, taking us back around. The dragons on my right moved aside for the Two-Head leader, and within seconds our two groups had merged. The Little-Biter bounced atop my head in excitement, too distracted to notice the pitying looks he received from just about everyone as they flew over me to get into place.

We were quiet for awhile—something that made the Two-Head just as uncomfortable as I was. “So,” one head began while the other scanned the ocean for danger, “why would your nest be placed so close to all of these humans? It seems like every other island is taken over by them.”

I nodded. “Yeah—that’s actually the _reason_ we’re here.” At his baffled look, I chuckled and explained, “Our nest is _very_ big, so we hunt from the humans.”

All at once, a chorus of “ _What?!_ ” was flung from every newcomer. Their King stared at me in horror and turned his yellow eyes on the Little-Biter on my head, understanding settling in. Then he clicked his jaws shut tight and turned away.

“It really is best not to anger them,” he said. “It is possible for human and dragon to live in relative peace.”

A Hum-Wing from the Queen’s tribe laughed. “That is absurd! The humans here make dragon-hunting a sport!” Her voice gained a more serious tone, and she said, “If we do not interfere, then the fate that befell your nest would be ours as well.”

 _Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine_ , I thought while the heavily-burdened leader sagged. “W-well, uh, anyways,” I said, “Our nest is large and will be able to accommodate you easily. We’re actually getting really close—it’s just behind those pillars over there,” I said, nodding towards the unique fog-shrouded stones in question. “It’s a great natural defense against ships and we usually interfere before they get too close. Sometimes we practice our flying skills in them, which is awesome!”

The King snorted. “My daughter would be thrilled to play in those.” His grins faded, and he asked, “How often do Vikings go through there?”

I glanced down at the ice-coated ocean. The nest was far north enough that the waters around it were protected in the winter by the layer of ice. Apparently there was a current that carried extremely cold water from even further north, too, which aided in the freezing over. “Well, right now, never. Obviously. So you guys picked a really good time to visit.” We entered the forest of stone, and the dragons behind us condensed nearly to single-file. In an effort to give the new dragons more room, those comfortable enough in their flying broke off one by one until the Little-Biter and I were the only dragons from our nest that were still in formation. “In the warmer seasons, though, they come through once every so—“

“ _Aaaaigh!”_ A young dragoness in the back howled, stopping my heart cold. I spun around to see the poor thing writhing midair, clawing at her heads and eyes unfocused. The Two-Head’s father gasped and opened his wings wide, pulling himself back and out until he was besides her.

“What’s wrong?!” He said. When she did nothing except writhe in apparent pain some more, he begged, “Daughter! What happened?!”

The nest was close enough to hear the signature cricket-chirpings sung by the Queen. I turned to the stalling newcomers and shouted, “We’re almost there! Hurry!”

“ _No!_ ” The little dragoness screamed. “ _No!_ ” And with that, another dragon jolted as if shot and howled with such pain, I almost expected to see them fall into the frozen ocean from a terrible injury. Two more followed soon after. I stared with wide eyes, heart hammering, as all but their King twitched and convulsed, eyes rolling and flight erratic, like they had been injected with the deadliest of venoms.

The King looked at me, pupils pinpricks in his eyes. “I’m sorry!” He said, his voice cracking in fear. “We can’t stay here! We need to leave!” He grabbed his hatchling and turned away.

 _You must not let them leave!_ I thought. _They need medical attention!_

The dragons from the nest seemed to understand as well—they descended, blocking every path of escape and herding the confused dragons towards the nest. Their King roared in fury and smacked at a Two-Walker with his tail, teeth bared. His efforts were useless; we far outnumbered them, and they were forced to fly with us or else risk a collision that could damage their wings or disorientate them just enough to send them falling.

“I’m sorry!” I said as we dragged them towards the nest—gods, the mountain was in sight now! Why were they being so difficult?! “We just want to help you!”

The King snarled, “We don’t need it!” He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his heads. For a split second his flight became irregular, his wings beating out of sync. It was a small episode, but it was enough; in his confusion he dropped his daughter.

She plummeted like a dead bird.

For a single moment I saw her replaced with the injured human child from the raid so long ago. Then I pulled my wings in, shooting towards her—!

The hatchling smacked into a pillar hard enough to send a _CRACK!_  echoing through the entire dead forest. Her left wing hit it hard, like an explosion of flesh and rock, and caught onto an outcropping. Before I could even blink it had pierced through her fragile wing, and she kept on falling, falling, falling! She slid down the boulder leaving behind a trail of blood, and with each second her wing ripped further and further open, the pillar a dagger slicing through her membrane from base to tip until it was nothing but tattered skin flapping in the wind.

Her screaming faded, and she dropped limp off the stone and disappeared in the fog, the snapping of bones seconds later the only sound in the entire world.

The King threw his heads back and his mouths hung open, choking on his agony. His eyes dragged over to mine. Their light faded, resolved.

“No!” I ordered, reaching out to him in desperation.

The Two-Head pulled his wings in, closed his eyes, and disappeared below. I sped after, refusing to lose another, to be responsible for another death!

The ice came into view, soaked red around the mangled corpse of the hatchling. The King was curled up around her, licking her wounds and murmuring to her that it would be okay as her dead eyes glazed over and her blood seeped further and further away from its source. He did nothing even when I landed besides him, even as his tribemates continued to howl above, even as the tears fell like rivers from my eyes and I begged for his forgiveness over and over and over and was given nothing but silence.

* * *

The King stayed with his daughter, curled up around her and eyes closed in acceptance of their family’s end. Head lowered, I led the still-confused newcomers into the nest.

They were shocked, to say the least. They crowded onto a landing and huddled together, mouths hung wide open. The Queen did not leave them waiting at all; as soon as they had gotten comfortable, she rose from below, magma dripping off her scales and falling like little orange stars.

 _Welcome, new dragons!_ She said. _I understand that your journey has been a twisted one, and for that I express my deepest sympathies._ She smiled kindly at them. _It would be my honor to let you stay here as you recover both your wounds and your hearts. Here you will be safe, and here you will find a new family, if you so please._

The Hum-Wing that seemed to be their second-in-command raised her head and whispered, “Thank you, my Queen.”

* * *

Winter had set its roots in deep when the Shadow-Blender approached me and asked if I would go hunting with him.

My first response was to say no. I had led a raid the night before, and the younger portion of my flare had nearly been captured. Had I not dive-bombed the area around the humans attacking them, they would all be trophies on the Vikings’ walls. It had been the first time I had gone out of my way to directly attack humans, and I was thoroughly shaken despite dozens of dragons telling me that I had done the right thing. I just wanted to lie down and think for a little while.

But he seemed so uncomfortable, rubbing his head and squeezing his eyes as if he were in pain. I couldn’t help but to agree. Leaving the Little-Biter behind for once, we left at sunbreak and flew south, where there was hopefully less ice and more fish. The islands had been all but picked clean of prey and we desperately needed to find more food.

“I hear the new dragons have settled in very well,” he said after a horribly long absence of conversation.

I jolted a little. “Uh, yeah!” I said. “They, uh, they had a lot to get adjusted to, but I think they’re good now.” I frowned, looking down at the ice and wondering how long their King had lain there until he, too, was embraced by the Dragoness of the Moon. With a shake of my head I brushed it off. The Queen had personally told me it had not been my fault when I’d confessed to her what happened. And the Queen was always right. It was silly of me to feel guilty.

The Shadow-Blender nodded in approval. “Good. You were wise to bring them here.” He gave me a rare smile that I couldn’t help but return. “They have made us all the more stronger, and all the credit goes to you.”

“Well, I did say I would do better than the last time,” I said, and the Shadow-Blender laughed. “So, where are we going, anyways? How are we going to get fish from under there?” I asked, pointing down at the cloud-white ice below.

He smiled. “We just have to find a weak spot in the ice and blow through it with our fire. This will help you channel magic into your fire as well, which is why I asked you to come along.”

A huge smile spread across my face despite him sneaking a lesson onto me in the disguise of a fun-ish mission. “Woah,” I summed my excitement up. “How do you know when the ice is thin enough?”

My sort-of mentor hummed, scanning the ice and then perking up. “There!” He said, pointing at…ice. I raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes. “Do you see how it’s clearer?”

I squinted. It all looked the same to me, reflecting the weak sunlight and burning my eyes. “Uh…”

The Shadow-Blender shook his head in dismissal. “Just shoot where I shoot,” he instructed, pulling all his limbs in and charging his fire. I did the same, heart hammering as we got closer and closer to the ice without doing anything. The gas in my mouth grew more volatile and higher in temperature as I pumped magic into it, and just as it was becoming unbearable, the Shadow-Blender shot onto the ice with a fireball of equal color. I mimicked him as fast as I could and we both banked in opposite directions, a mushroom cloud left behind in our wake.

When the smoke cleared, the ice was brittle and cracked like broken glass, but otherwise intact.

“Well, that was successful,” I said, shrugging my shoulders in defeat.

The Shadow-Blender nodded, taking my comment seriously. “Yes. Let’s give it another fly-by,” he instructed, pushing his wings to their maximum strength to gain altitude. We fell again, this time firing and dodging the subsequent shrapnel in perfect unison.

The ice was actually melting where it had been hit, deep blue peeking out shyly from beneath the coat of hardened snow. One more set of fireblasts left behind a hole about as wide as a house, the water so dark in color it looked like we had blown a hole into the sky and was seeing the Dragoness of the Moon’s expanse beneath us.

I landed on the edge of the hole, sniffing at it. “You know, wouldn’t all of that fire just scare the fish away?” I pointed out to the Shadow-Blender.

He flew down and set his feet neatly on the edge, shaking his head. “You’d be surprised. We just need to wait a little bit, and something will come up eventually.” He sat down and preened his wing for a second.

I leaned closer to the water. “I can’t see _anything_ , though,” I nitpicked. “How would we know when there’s a fish—“

“Don’t fall!” The Shadow-Blender interrupted, pushing me right over the edge! I screeched and just barely managed to fly away from the frigid water, stumbling onto the opposite edge and scowling at the dumb Shadow-Blender as he laughed his mature little scales off.

“I almost died!” I yelled, which only fueled his laughter. Trying my best to keep a firm scowl set on my face, I sulked over to him, making sure to “accidentally” stomp on his tail as I passed.

“Ouch!” He yelped, and then rose on his hind legs and cuffed me over the head. “I was simply teaching you to think fast. So, good job! You passed!” He beamed at me like I’d just told him he could have all of my food for a month.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Yeah, well…think fast!” I shouted, leaping at him and knocking his smug expression right off of his smug little face! We rolled around for a second and then I jumped off of him before he could kick me, breaking off into a trot and singing, “You can’t catch me! You can’t catch me!”

The Shadow-Blender defied that yes, he could, in fact, catch me in the same tone of voice, and I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder and seeing him sprinting right towards me! Adrenaline spiked down my spine and I pushed my skinny legs to their limits, jogging as fast as I could and darted perpendicular to where I was heading right as I heard him launch off the ground to catch me! I stopped and turned around to see him lying on the ground, slightly confused that I had managed to evade him at the last second.

With a devious grin I pounced on him, and again we rolled, but when his back hit the ground I pinned him! He struggled for a little bit and then stopped when it became clear that I had _totally_ kicked his butt.

“This must be embarrassing for you!” I mocked, lowering my head until we were nose-to-nose.

The Shadow-Blender wrenched his hind legs free, kicked me right in the stomach, and then pushed me aside with one wing. I fell onto the ground beside him, clutching my midsection and moaning, while he just sat up with that stupid proud smirk and said, “No, not really.”

I pushed myself to my feet and said, “Well, I already won, so let’s go fishing.” Pretending not to hear his proclamation about how I was mistaken on who had won, I trotted back to the hole, making sure to stay clear of the edge this time. It still looked as dark and gloomy as ever. “So, are we just going to shoot in there and hope a fish comes out?”

“They get attracted to these holes in the winter,” the Shadow-Blender explained as he drew up besides me. “We’ll definitely get some. Here,” he sucked in a breath and shot deep into the hole. His reward was nothing but a huge splash of water rising out and thoroughly soaking us.

I shook my scales wildly in an attempt to dislodge the freezing water. “That worked!” I exclaimed, earning a glare and—gods, _why_ — _another_ lecture. I thought we had gotten past this phase!

We hunched by our hole in the ice as the day went on, taking turns shooting into it as the sun rolled higher and higher. When it had reached its highest point in the sky, we hadn’t seen a single scale nor ripple from the water.

“This is odd,” the Shadow-Blender finally said while I lay on the ice. “I’ve never seen this happen before.”

I shrugged. “Maybe we just picked the wrong spot—ah!” I yelped when I felt the ice below me vibrate, like someone underneath it had smacked it with all their might. Jumping to my feet, I scampered away and shouted, “The ice just moved!”

My companion looked confused for a moment and tapped the ice with his foot. “Uh…no, it didn’t.”

“How would you know?! I was right under me!” I emphasized this by pounding my foot on the ice several times. All the sudden, our harmless patch of ocean seemed a little less safe. “I think we should go.”

The Shadow-Blender scoffed. “Don’t be silly! It was probably just your stomach. Or maybe there’s fish down there now,” he realized, turning back to the hole. I walked over to him as he blasted a powerful fireball into the water.

Blood. Instead of a burst of white water we were met with a spray of sick, red spray, and the ice beneath us crackled just a bit as something beneath lurched into it. We only had a second to look at each other in bafflement and horror before the water burst forward, the ice cracking and sailing into the air!

Both the Shadow-Blender and I screeched and hurried to launch ourselves away before the ice beneath us crumbled. I jumped up just before it met with the ocean, and when I turned around there…was…

I almost fell from the sky from shock alone. This creature was easily as big as the Queen. It looked like an enormous eel, silver-blue scales glinting in the sunlight and huge pointing spines sticking up in the air. It had a canine-like snout that ending with whisker-like appendages, and its numerous eyes dotting its head all opened at once and honed in on us. Just at the base of the water, its body widened out, hinting at a much larger girth below the waves.

“Sea dragon,” the Shadow-Blender whispered as it scrutinized us. It towered over us even as we hovered, and I had no doubt that it would be able to breach the clouds if it ever felt like it wanted to.

For a moment, nothing happened. I cleared my throat and shouted up at it, “Uh, h-hello!” The sea serpent regarded me with an agitated look, and I rushed, “Sorry about hitting you! We were looking for fish,” I looked over at the Shadow-Blender to see him nodding in confirmation and executing a little bow. I did the same.

“You be des-prat to br’k through such th’ck eece,” the sea serpent spoke—as in, _words came from its mouth_. Its voice was heavily accented and felt as though the gods had given thunder the ability to speak the language of dragons. I fluttered in complete bafflement; how in the world did it know how to speak Dragonese?! “Why not go to eesland ‘nd hunt?”

“There’s…not much left,” the Shadow-Blender stammered, just as astonished as I was. “We figured we might as well try, since it’s worked in the past.” He put on a fake grin. “But we should be leaving now, since we still have yet to find a meal.”

The sea serpent sniffed at us. “ _Xe de’a_ ,” it said, “how all of the eeslands have no pr’y on?” It tipped its head to the side and the spines running along its back lowered.

For a second neither of us said anything, desperately trying to decode before it got annoyed at us. It was like a puzzle, only deadlier!

Far slower than I’d prefer, I got the gist of what it had said and shrugged. “Well, there’s a lot of us and we need a lot of food…so, yeah.” I glanced at the Shadow-Blender for help, but he seemed to agree with me enough to not say anything.

The sea serpent blinked several times. “Wow! That many _audse_? You have empeere!” It sniffed at us again and pondered, “Good! _Heepa!_ Was once monarch. Monstros’tee. K’ll manee see-folk. But monarch pass’t, end bad teemes.” The serpent nodded once, big and strong, its huge smile revealing wicked-sharp rows of teeth.

Wait…what? I scrunched my face together, head tilted a little b it. “Uh, what?” I asked.

“Monster _aud,_ eh, monster da-ra-gon,” it tried to clarify. “Beeg. K’ll see-folk.” At our blank looks, the sea serpent tilted its head nearly ninety degrees, humming to itself. Its voice was so deep my entire body vibrated. “Gr’y, red, green. Also eet oo-ther _audse._ Unleek anee oo-ther _aud_ of all teeme. Eevil! _Di’la?_ ”

The Shadow-Blender gave me a look that spoke of extreme confusion. I was feeling just about the same way, having barely understood what the behemoth was trying to say.

We were quiet, and just as it was becoming unbearable the Shadow-Blender jolted midair as if struck by lightning and swooped closer to the sea serpent. “Wait,” he said, “You say this dragon—this _aud_ —ate other dragons?”

The giant eel threw its head back and wailed, “Sadlee!”

His voice grew deeper, more dangerous. “And you say that she is evil and monstrous?” His ears and frills lay flat against his head, and I just barely saw his claws fully extend from their pads. I scrunched my face up, wondering why in the world he was so angry and what the hell he was going to do about it when—

I took in a sharp intake of air and looked up at the creature in a mix of outraged horror, finally understanding _who_ it was speaking of.

The sea serpent, unable to correctly read the body language that made it _very_ clear that both of us were _pissed_ —or simply ignoring it, believing we agreed with it on an extremely emotionally involved level—shook its head and growled, “That _aud_ worst cree-tyur to curse us all. Thank _Xe_ it fallen to Pree-birth.”

_What?!_

Did it just—it just—of _all the nerve_ —!

_The Queen does **not** belong in the Prebirth!_

The Shadow-Blender snarled as loud as his lungs could allow, spines bristling and wings thumping rapidly against the ocean wind. “How dare you!” He cried. “How dare you imply that our Queen is a tyrant! How dare you speak her name and that foul word in the same sentence!” In a flash of darkness he was rising towards the serpent’s eye level, leaving me to flail behind him as fast as possible.

The rotten thing tilted its head, its eyes growing to massive sizes and a firm frown set across its hideous maw. “That _aud…_ ” the serpent shrunk some, curling its head close to its neck like a crane, “It l’ves?!”

We were nose to nose with it now, giving me a thorough view of how some of the beast’s teeth were larger than myself. But it seemed so _insignificant_ , now that this horrible animal had dared wish our Queen to _that place._ Her honor needed to be defended! “She is our leader,” I said, making my voice as low as possible in an attempt to be intimidating. “She is _kind_ and she _loves_ us and she keeps us _safe._ How is that evil?” When it did nothing but stare openmouthed I spit, “ _How?!_ ”

Realization seemed to dawn on it—finally. Now it was realizing the error of its ways, that perhaps sea dragon lore had demonized our Queen, for what reason I’d probably never know, but at least there was now a member of the species that knew the truth and could pass it on!

It leaned in so close I thought it’d bump into the both of us. The Shadow-Blender held his ground, teeth bared and claws poised to strike, and so I stayed as well. I couldn’t help but feel as though I were drowning in the serpent’s huge, film-coated eyes; they were so _deep_ in their color, so _intelligent_ …

“You poor theengs,” it moaned. “Shee tak’n you from yourselves.”

…or not. I took in a deep breath, a low growl building in my chest. All of the eyes scattered about its head turned to hone in on me, and they had the indecency to looked _concerned_ , as if we were in need of assistance.

It was in that precise moment that the Shadow-Blender launched himself above with the unmistakable howl of our fire, swiveled, and catapulted it directly onto the serpent’s forehead. I took the cue without thinking, diving below the howling eel’s jaw and locating a thick cluster of eyes. Without even diving for additional power I spat a blue-white flame at them, watching it explode in a cloud of smoke, scales, and blood.

The eyes that had not been affected opened wide, slit pupils circling wildly as the sea dragon flung its head in my direction. I could barely think _TEETH!_  before I was rammed in the side by something and sent spiraling below, shrieking as the cracked ice below came closer and closer! I stretched my wings out as far as they could and pulled up just as I could make out the individual details of each shard of ice in the black ocean, my wingtips brushing against the water and my tail flinging to and fro in an attempt to level out. I shot right past the Shadow-Blender—who must have been the one who pushed me, judging by his guilt-stricken expression—and forced my aching wings to take me higher.

The serpent bared its teeth up at me. “ _Audse!_ ” It cried. “Stop! Ee can help you!” The Shadow-Blender took advantage of my distraction and struck the dumb thing right at the base of its jaw, the spot of the neck that is usually the softest on dragons. Its head was flung back from the sheer force of the blow and it fell upon the ice, where it lay in apparent shock. “Pleese,” it moaned as I began my dive, building the gas in my throat. The sea dragon looked directly at me and closed its eyes with nothing but a sigh of defeat.

I grinned, satisfied with its recognition of its inferiority, and aimed directly into the open wound on its neck—

The ice snapped like a splintered wood, chunks of shrapnel taking flight inside a plume of water that seemed more like a reverse waterfall than anything in my experience. The horrible creature lifted its neck far faster that I could ever expect from an animal that size, leaving my shot to find its target beneath the crashing waves. I had finally—Dragoness of the Moon, am I an _idiot_ —gotten the good idea to turn around and fly away when the ice directly beneath me crumbled and a massive forelimb filled my entire vision as it broke free of the ice. I didn’t even have time to gasp—it was like flying as fast as I could into a mountain, and felt just about the same when it hit me dead-on. My chest crumpled, my legs were crushed, and my wings smacked into the mass of scales and muscle with less strength than a butterfly’s frail wingbeats.

I slid off the slick, blubbery scales of the flipper, gasping for air, and was once again met with the sight of the ice drawing closer to greet me. Except this time, I knew, I would not be able to perform the escape tactic I had last time. My wings were no more than crumpled paper, my legs pawing uselessly at the air, and with each failed intake of air I realized that this would be my last sight, my last experience, drowning midair above the water…

My vision blurred, my head pounded, and all I could do was ponder why we sat there and had a _conversation_ with a creature that even the Queen would struggle to subdue, ponder how massively dull we were to attack, no matter if it mentioned the Prebirth or not. A roar came from somewhere above, but I was too wrapped up berating myself for being so gods-damned _stupid._

And just as the world was darkening, a distorted and pained voice shrieked, “ _Pull yourself together!”_

I blinked against the cascading nightfall, extending my wings as far as my ripping muscles could reach. They filled up with little pockets of air, like a sail bloating with the wind, but I had been falling for too long, too fast! With a groan I tried to plunge my tail down to flip me over, or to spin my away, or anything! Thrusting my wings down with as much power as I could conjure, I arched my body like a boomerang, straining to pull up if only for a second! If I could just level out, I would be able to glide parallel to the ice!

 _Come on, Shadow-Blender!_ I growled to myself. _You can do this!_

Except that I couldn’t. The force of the impact had been too catastrophic on my body, plunging my lungs into failure and my muscles into exhaustion. In a last-ditch effort I filled my mouth with gas and magic, preparing to blast myself straight through the block of ice below me and into the water, where hopefully I would survive. I _had_ to survive! The Queen needed me!

I sent my fire into the ice, giving birth to a thick mass of fog. Just as I was about to bolt right into the heavy shroud, I closed my eyes, praying that it would work. The Shadow-Blender screamed out to me from above—

—and something crushed into my left hindleg with the devastating force of an avalanche, halting my descent in that exact spot. A strangled scream clawed out of my throat as I felt the bones in the base of my foot all the way up to my thigh shudder and strain and _crack_. Flailing and writhing, I howled murder, unable to even call out to the Shadow-Blender for help without putting him in danger.

The sea serpent had snapped its mouth shut around my leg. Its teeth dug deep enough into it to poke clean through, leaving behind a mangled mass of flesh and bone shards and blood. It lowered and set me down on the ice where I convulsed and twitched, raking air into my lungs and clawing at the white earth that offered little comfort.

With a _BANG_ the Shadow-Blender sent a very weak fireball into the serpent—his last shot—and landed to crouch over me, snarling for all he was worth. “Stay away, demon,” he hissed, “You’ve done enough.”

It was so silent I thought that the agony had somehow transferred to my ears, leaving me deafened. Then, “Ee am soree, _audse._ Ee w’ll find w’y to s’ve you!” The Shadow-Blender growled again, and then a sound akin to leaves rustling in a spring breeze signaled the evil creature’s descent into the waves. In my disorientation, I wondered how something so big and horrible could come off as gentle and caring.

My nest-mate trotted around me in a frantic circle, sniffing me everywhere as I just lied there and thought, _don’t look at it._ He didn’t waste any time asking stupid questions like ‘are you alright?’, but instead pressed his cheek against mine and promised, “You’re going to be okay.”

With a grunt he had me up over his shoulders and was sprinting across the broken ice. I almost felt a sense of déjà vu, but it was whisked away as I stared at the cracks and gorges in the ruined landscape around us, the deep holes where something solid once stood. I felt as though I had to fix it.

As the sun set on two of two dim stars, I finally lost consciousness, my mind having never left the wreckage left behind by the monster.

* * *

I woke up in the nest to hear that the Shadow-Blender had carried me for hours until a search party found us and carried me back home. My leg had been healed, although there was some scarring and I would forever be a little slow in it—a stroke of luck, I was told, considering _what_ had been the cause of my injury. The Two-Leg that tended to me went as far as to admit that she was shocked that I was even alive after such an encounter.

There was a hunk of meat in front of me with the Shadow-Blender’s scent on it, but he was nowhere to be seen. Staring it down, I was torn between being angry with him for not being there with me and understanding that he couldn’t babysit me all the time, especially since he had already done enough when I was so far into his debt.

* * *

“I’m just saying,” I said, “I think that there’s a lot more that can be done than what the Queen permits.” I looked down into the nest below. The Little-Biter and I were seated a little ways outside the main entrance in the top of the mountain, where we could observe the slowly-melting ice as winter gradually died away.

The Little-Biter gave me The Look. “You know how _that_ will end,” he admonished me before taking another bite of the cod I’d given to him. “Besides, you heard the Queen. If you destroy too much, we lose our food supply!” He folded his remaining wing tight against his body and shook his head.

I let my head succumb to gravity and fall on my legs. “Yeah, but still,” I whined. “If we just take out their weapons supply…” I trailed off and ran a paw over my face, “…then they can’t hunt. Ugh.”

“Why do you even care so much about this?” The Little-Biter asked, grabbing a piece of the fish and scrambling up onto my back to his favorite spot in between my spines.

I shrugged, earning a yelp from the Little-Biter. “I don’t know, it’s just…” I was silent for a second, trying to find a way to phrase what I wanted to say. “It’s just, I’ve always been in need of help here. I need to be taught magic and I’m always being saved by someone. It’s like the nest and dragon culture is trying to reject me,” I sighed. Lifting my head, I resolved, “I need to prove myself.”

I stood up and the Little-Biter squeaked, “Wait! What are you going to do?”

“Talk to the Queen, of course,” I shot over my shoulder with a grin.

The Little-Biter’s eyes widened and he scrambled off my back. Prancing around my feet, he exclaimed, “No! No! Bad idea!” In an attempt to stop me he reared and pushed against my legs with all his might.

Smiling, I said, “Don’t worry! It’s going to work this time!” Opening my wings wide, I jumped far out into the crisp air and let myself fall like a hailstone into the nest, down past the curtain of bloodied fog and into the magma chamber. The Queen’s nose was just barely peeking out of the lake of sunlight, but she took immediate notice of me as I swooped a full circle around the cavern before coming to a hover above a platform sticking out from the cliffside. I had learned long ago that the stones below had the strange ability to burn me, and really didn’t feel like screwing around with them right now.

 _My Shadow-Blender,_ the Queen greeted me, lifting herself out of the magma with a small grin.

“My Queen!” I said, tilting myself forward in a bow. It would have looked a lot more regal had I actually executed it correctly; instead of looking regal and majestic and all that fun stuff, I ended up doing a somersault. Righting myself as fast as I could, I chuckled and tried to keep my embarrassment from being too obvious.

Laughing, the Queen put my worries at ease, _Don’t worry about it, little one. For what reason do I have the pleasure of speaking with you?_ She turned her head and leaned closer, all three eyes opened.

 _Don’t screw this up_ , I told myself. “I-I was thinking, you know, there have been a lot of injuries lately from Vikings.” Staring into her eyes, I continued, “And I was thinking, ah, that maybe it would be better if I… _helped_ more, you know?” I waved my paws horizontally away from each other, spreading my claws out.

The Queen frowned. _And how would you offer this assistance?_

Perking up, I nearly chirped, “Well, if I could just help the others fight the humans—“

 _Shadow-Blender_ , the Queen interrupted. She gave me a gentle smile. _Do you not remember what happened when you last fought a human? You huddled in the nest, shaken to your bones until your kin asked if you would hunt with him. This was just before you encountered the sea serpent, correct?_

I looked down, ears drooping. “Yes. I remember that. But,” I returned my eyes to hers, “I know I can handle it now. That was my first time actually attacking them. I was…more than a little intimidated. But now I know I can do it.”

 _Can you?_ She said, her voice soft. _You have yet to see their wrath. How do you know you won’t crumble the second a weapon is flung towards your throat?_

“ _Please_ ,” I pressed. “Please let me prove myself. I can do this. I know I can. Dragons much younger than me can do it,” I added, becoming more and more desperate.

The Queen nodded. _Yes, they do. But surely you understand why a dragon as valuable as yourself must be protected. When the Shadow-Blender was felled, the nest suffered a massive loss. But when both of you returned, you ushered in an era of prosperity that we have yet to experience before. This is a_ much _easier winter than the ones before._

I dipped my head. “I…understand. But…but I’m not a baby. I’m confident I’ll be able to defend myself.”

She shook her head, crushing all my ambitions in a single gesture. _You are much too timid, my child. I know you believe yourself sturdy and unbreakable. But you freeze when it comes to harming humans, as you fear the rebuttal._

“My Queen,” flapping my wings, I inched myself closer to her and pressed with a little bit of annoyance, “I took on a _sea dragon_. I can assure you I am not timid. Please,” I repeated. I was so close now I could see my reflection in her eyes. “Please let me prove my worth.”

She turned with a sad little chuckle. _Oh, Shadow-Blender,_ she said, pressing the edge of her nose into my chest. I placed a paw around it, leaning into the immensely outsized hug with half-closed eyes. _You already have. I realize it breaks your heart to be denied your request._ She pulled away and tilted her head again to get a better view. _I will offer you a mission: if you can prove yourself to be able to conquer any human, then you may have all the freedom you desire to battle them._

A laughed a little in pleasant astonishment. “Wow, t-thanks!” I bowed deeply, managing to not fall this time. “Uh, but how can I do that without actually, you know, fighting them?”

The Queen’s lip curved up. _You must find your answer on your own, my child. Good luck._ She sunk back below the false-ocean of fire, putting an end to the conversation.

I flew back to the nest, unable to stop myself from doing a little victory flip in my elation. At last, I would be able to do what I’ve always wanted to! I was going to revolutionize the entire war, shifting all the victories into our claws! And _nothing_ was going to stop me from finally being a worthwhile asset to the nest!

* * *

The fireball looked like an angry god drawn from a deep, hopeless lair, bursting from the ground with no other task on mind than to kill. It got close enough to make my eyes sting from the intense light before I finally ducked out of the way, flipping midair to watch it sail into the open mouth of the night sky. The Little-Biter screeched from his “saddle”, his claws digging in deep enough that it would be no surprise that he drew blood.

“Watch for catapults!” I hollered at my flare behind me, receiving no less than three confused looks. Rolling my eyes, I amended, “Flying, flaming rocks!” There was an assortment of “oooh”s from behind. With a flick of my head I sent us higher, just in time to avoid being crushed by the manmade falling stars decorating the air with numbers rivaling snow in a blizzard.

When we were high enough to breach the clouds I began to circle to get a view of the thirty or so dragons who had faithfully followed me into the unknown. We weren’t on a mission; it was just a simple, good-ol’ raid tonight. Food supply near the nest had diminished enough for us the branch out again, and while this island had been acknowledged by the tribe, we hardly ever went near it because—

A dragon that had taken too long to avoid the fireballs yelped as one nicked him at the top of his wing. He spun out for a heart-stopping moment and then righted himself, flapping wildly to join the circle with a sheepish, “I’m okay!”

—of the fireballs. These Vikings were well-known to have superb weapon technology…and also superb food stores, as the rather obvious result of their success. If we could just steal even a third of what they had, the Queen’s stomach would be filled enough to provide hunting time to half the nest.

Scanning the mountainous island carefully, I decided, “Elders, draw the warriors to the northern fields. Break into two groups and wrap around them. Then set fire to the grass around them.” The ones being addressed called out their acknowledgements and shot below the blue clouds, leaving puffs of mist in their wake. To the remaining dragons I said, “Wait until it’s safe enough to get into their food stores, and then break in. If you even remotely think there is a human nearby then _fly away!_ The Little-Biter and I’ll be right above all of you causing distractions if you need anything!”

“Got it!” Shouted the head of the younger dragons, a Flame-Skin. “Good luck, Shadow-Blender!” She said as she, too, left with her group, leaving us the only dragons beneath the stars.

“Good luck, Flame-Skin!” The Little-Biter cried despite knowing there was no chance she’d hear me. He patted me on the ear and boasted, “I-I’m ready when you are,” despite his obvious nervousness.

I nodded and gave myself one precious second to steel myself, taking in the silence, save for the soft rustling like that of a full windsail on ship generated by my wings. I closed my tailfins and tucked all of my appendages in, falling without a sound through the thick coat of clouds. The Little-Biter hung on for his life.

We broke into a cacophony of shrieks, the clashing of metal on scales, and the whirling of arrows, bolas, and daggers flung into the air, the entire world seemingly drenched in smoke born from countless furious fires. The catapults had been pushed aside in favor of hand-to-claw combat, thank the Dragoness of the Moon. But it was very obvious that the elders were having trouble drawing the warriors away from their homes and children. A whole section of dragons was flitting about the edge of the village, taking on the Vikings accumulated there through sheer numbers alone.

Keeping myself in my dive, I only opened my tailfins just barely to angle myself towards the back of the Viking group. Just as I was about to skim the rooftops I snapped my wings open and shot some fire right behind them, sending quite a few flying through the air and the rest stumbling forward. There was no more time to observe my work, though! I angled myself through an alley, gliding vertically through it so my right wingtip nearly brushed the ground, and then broke back up to the sky once I had cleared the buildings.

The whole world was lit with fire, entire houses spitting flame and smoke into the atmosphere. A female Viking caught sight of me and charged, spinning a bola and screaming her braids off. She thrust it into the air before I could get out of range, but just as it was about to hit, the Little-Biter spat as much fire as he could at it, incinerating the ropes and leaving two harmless stones behind. I immediately dipped again, anticipating an attack from behind—and watched three arrows fire directly above me, right where my neck had been moments before.

Heart pounding, I pulled myself into the cloud of smoke and flung myself through it, using the thermals brought on by the fires below to tell me where dragons had already taken care of business. An unusually cool spot appeared on my right and I bolted out and above, building gas in my mouth.

I had broken out into the center of the village, and in the chaos below humans were scampering in a vain attempt to ward off the younger flare of dragons. It seemed that their leader had taken some liberties upon herself and separated them similar to the elders; a large group was providing protection to a select few dragons, all of whom were either sneaking into buildings or grabbing any animal that came close to them in their claws.

There was just enough time for the humans to scream their usual _night fury get down!_ before the gas lit and shot forward in a streak of neon blue, exploding in the center of the street the main battle was taking place. Swooping above the wreckage, I conjured a succession of smaller blasts below me, flying as low as I dared. A quick glance over my shoulder proved that several Vikings had sighted me and were now giving chase.

“Looks like they caught the bait!” I told the Little-Biter. His eyes widened in horror and he shrunk lower into my spines. “Do you want me to drop you off?”

The Little-Biter took a moment to consider. “Not this time! You won’t be able to find me in all this haze.” He forced a confident smile and said, “Let’s show them what the Queen’s nest can _really_ do!”

Smirking, I twisted around a corner, right into their little town square with its statue of a Viking god. Flapping hard to lose speed, I perched on top of it, curling over the wooden helmet with tucked wings. “Catch me if you can!” I taunted at the small gathering of humans below, bundling my legs and launching myself back out towards them. Just as I reopened my wings I flipped and sent a magic-charged fireball into the statue’s base and climbed above it, watching the blue flames turn seething red as they ate away at it. With a heavy moan, the behemoth wilted and fell, landing onto two houses and crushing them.

The desired effect was comically instantaneous: the Vikings got _pissed._ With their precious statue no longer livening up their town center with its angry-angry eyes, it seemed like I had sent the entire village out for my blood. I flew low enough to keep myself visible but high enough to duck back into smoke if needed, and so began what was essentially a wild dragon chase. The dumb herd of Vikings faithfully followed me no matter how fast I dipped, flipped, or charged around their corners. I, in turn, gave them a “chance” by sitting on top of the taller buildings when I got too far away.

It was at times like these when you realize how dang _stubborn_ these creatures are. They had virtually no chance of catching me, but the crowd grew _larger_ as I pranced through their village and flew out of reach of their long-range attacks. So large, in fact, that I began to get nervous; one lucky hit that manages to stop me for even a minute and I’d lose my life, even with the help of the Little-Biter.

One of the tallest settlements (some sort of hall) loomed nearby, and I lunged up to its highest point. It was so tall that when I first sat on it I was above the smoke fog, forcing me to crouch down over it as the Vikings surrounded the building and exclaimed that they had cornered me.

I took my focus off of them to look out onto the rest of the village. Dozens of houses and shops had set fire, and off in the distance I saw flames grasping at the sky on the crest of a hill. The illuminated forms of the elders spitting fire was the only indication that they had drawn as big a group as they could away from the settlements.

The smaller flare was nowhere to be seen. I could only spot a few dragons flying with cargo back up above the clouds, ready to depart. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to decide if that was a good or bad thing. Where were the others? Were they caught by surprise? Were they trapped?

The Little-Biter spoke my thoughts, whimpering, “Where are the others?”

“I don’t know.” My eyes dragged down to the Vikings. Those wielding bows were sending arrows my way, forcing me to flatten myself against the building. Covered in soot and the occasional scratch from lucky shots, I knew I certainly looked the “trapped animal” part. If I were to spring off right now to search for my missing tribemates, it would disintegrate the illusion and the Vikings would target the young ones again. But what if they were already in need of help?

Closing my eyes, I lifted my ears as far up as they could and concentrated, brows furrowing. Through all the shouting and fire, it was difficult to find anything amidst the confusion. I was just about to give up when I heard a faint screech off to the west. Spinning so I was facing towards the long-set sun, I strained my ears again.

Fainter than leaves clipping on the ground in the wind, I heard a voice say, “ _Shadow-Blender, help us!_ ”

Distraction thrown aside, I bolted into the air faster than lightning, pumping magic into my throat and pounding my wings against the air. The cry for help had come from somewhere off-center in the village, near a bundle of shops all up in flames. But as I flew over the street, I saw that one was not like the rest: there was a crowd of dragons next to what appeared to be a butchery.

“Oh, no!” The Little-Biter gasped.

A large Viking wielding a _sword_ was chasing four extremely young dragons into the open building. A Two-Leg stumbled and fell beneath him, and he raised the rancid steel far above his head, a horrible grin showing no mercy.

Eyes wide and heart thrumming faster than a hummingbird’s, I did nothing but _react._ I opened my mouth and released a full-power, magic-enhanced bomb blaze into the unsuspecting Viking, blinding even myself in the resulting white-hot flash. I stumbled to the ground and jogged in a tight circle, returning to the huge smoke cloud at the entrance of the shed.

The Two-Leg hopped out of the fog, his scales a little scorched. “Oh, thank you, Shadow-Blender! Thank you!” He cried, rubbing his cheek against my neck. I leaned into him and said nothing, eyes locked on the spot the Viking had been. I knew he was unconscious, but the fact still remained that there was a _human_ with a _sword_ mere meters from us.

From inside the butchery someone yelled, “Great gods!”, and was quickly followed by the remaining three dragons bursting out with strings of dried fish and gigantic slabs of thick meat.

I blinked several times, finally drawing myself out of my stupor. “Woah, jackpot!” I congratulated them. “Good job! You guys go up and wait with the others. I think we’re just about done here.” Turning to the Two-Leg, I butted my forehead against his and said, “Make sure you don’t trip over your own tail again!”

He laughed a bit uneasily and nodded once, kicking off the ground. When I remained ground he tipped his head aside and said, “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Not just yet.” Pointing my head towards the dissipating cloud of smoke, I said, “I’m going to see if there’s more in here. I’ll catch up with you guys later. Oh, would you mind calling out that we’re finished?” I added on in a rush when they started to fly away. To my chagrin, all at once the four let loose booming roars. “…or you could just do that,” I stammered in the dead silence afterwards, ears sticking up.

Another thought occurred to me. Twisting my head, I asked the Little-Biter, “Why don’t you grab something in there and let one of them carry you back?”

My green friend was more than eager to finally bring an offering that wasn’t borrowed from myself, and nodded several times before darting into shed and retreating mere seconds later with what looked like half the damn shed dragging at his feet. He looked panicked (which wasn’t too unusual) and tried to speak, but his voice was too muffled, forcing him to just shake his head. The Two-Leg extended a leg for him to climb upon and he scrambled onto her back, giving me one last…solemn look?

I watched all five of them fly away just to make sure they got above the clouds safely, taking note of any other dragon that I spotted before they hit the smoke wall. With a tired sigh I turned back towards the shed, wings and ears drooping in the wake of the adrenaline rush and exercise.

Oddly enough, when I approached the shed my paw landed in something _wet._ More than a little confused, I grounded my feet and flapped my wings to dispel the lingering smoke. What, did some ale break open around here or something?

The air cleared up with ease, giving me a full view of the empty road. I lost my breath and backpedaled away, ears pinned against my head and crouching low.

“Oh no,” I breathed, “oh no. Dragoness of the Moon.”

The liquid on the ground was not alcohol, nor was it water. Directly in front of me lay what appeared to be the bottom half of a human, cut off just below the waist. The legs looked almost deflated and unnaturally pale, more so than the moon. And right at the break the flesh and clothing seemed almost melted into each other, scorched beyond recognition and gleaming white bone standing stark against the burns like a white flag waving surrender and the pulpy remains of delicate organs strewn apart by my fire and…

The blood flowed like a river away from the dismembered corpse, into the shed where… _something_ …was huddled inside.

I forced my spasming legs to take me in, stepping through the puddle of deep red and looking down at what remained of the Viking. His sword had flown into the shed with him and for the longest time I was rooted to the spot, staring at it and imagining it trapping me, binding me down and preparing to kill me. But no, I realized. _I_ had been the fearsome beast. I gazed at the Viking, his expression locked into one of shock, and fell to the ground, hunching over him.

“I did this,” I choked, clenching my eyes shut to avoid looking at the blood, the bone and stripped muscle and flesh and membranes and innards that now painted the walls and ground.

It felt as though I sat there for an eternity, crouched over the dead Viking. I somehow felt the need to defend myself to someone, try to rationalize my thoughtless decision in a vain attempt to dispel the guilt clinging like brambles to my scales.

 _He didn’t even have the chance to scream_ , I thought. I opened my eyes and stared into his glazed, puzzled eyes. _Did you feel it? Did you know you were going to die? Or is the last thing you saw the Two-Leg beneath you ready to be your trophy, the last thing you felt the sword in your grip?_

Raising a shaky paw, I put my claws on his eyelids and pulled them down over the blue irises, and then lurched my eyes down to the lake of blood at my feet. I could see a reflection in it. It was me, I knew, and yet it felt unfamiliar, like I was staring in the face of a disappointed stranger.

 _That_ was enough.

Baring my teeth, I sprang up with a frustrated snarl, turning my back on the corpse. Why was I even feeling guilty about this?! This human had nearly murdered my tribemate with a huge smile on his face and I was standing vigil over him, feeling sorry for myself, like I had committed a crime?! _No!_ I am a Shadow-Blender, not some weeping, infantile, lowly human! If anything, I should be _happy_ about this death!

Face bundled up in a snarl, I smacked my paw down on the human’s back, just between its shoulders, and dragged it through its own blood back outside. Taking flight was a bit harder than usual, but because it wasn’t a whole human, I was up in the air in no time, holding the thing in between my front paws. A Viking below gasped loudly and wailed, but their voice was soon smothered by the smoke and clouds.

The dragons in my flare were silent, probably because my fury was written across my face and because I was carrying half a Viking with me. We flew back under the full moon and, for once, I was glad that nobody talked.

* * *

Even though I was the first to enter the nest, I circled around the pit and waited for everyone else to drop their food off. Just as I predicted, the Queen rose to the center of our home. I landed in front of her and bowed deeply.

“Your Majesty!” I greeted her with a smile. “I—“

_My child, what have you done?!_

I nearly fell over and straightened back to my normal position at once, glancing around to my other nestmates. All of them were looking at me in astonishment, like I was diseased. “I…” I swallowed and turned back to my leader, sinking low over the corpse. The Queen was aghast, all six of her eyes fixated on me and her mouth parted.

 _You have killed a human_ , she finally observed. I could only nod, wondering why this was so unusual; dragons killed humans all the time.

A black splash of color and the sharp whistle of wind announced the arrival of the Shadow-Blender, who landed besides me and sniffed at the body. He tipped his head, eyebrows bunching together, but said nothing. I looked away and forced the uncertainty and guilt down.

“Y-yes,” I spoke up, facing the Queen again. “I…he was about to kill one of the young Two-Legs that was in my flare. I…I killed him.” The words felt foreign and vile rolling off my tongue, but I repeated it again, as if even I couldn’t believe it, “I killed him.”

“But…why?” The Shadow-Blender whispered. He was staring at me like I was a stranger. “You once saved a human from being killed, and now you’re blasting them apart?” Narrowing his eyes, he said with a touch of concern, “What happened to you?”

“Why are you mad at me?!” I snapped, losing my temper. “I…you got mad at me when I did that! What—“ I stopped myself short, averting my eyes and pawing at the ground. No matter how irrational I felt he was being, losing my cool at my superior in front of the Queen would result in a _massive_ punishment.

The Shadow-Blender huffed. “I’m not mad. I’m just…really surprised.”

 _What he is trying to convey_ , the Queen interrupted, her voice calm and collected, _is that it is not expected of you to do such things. You are not a bloodthirsty dragon, and before this night you had only engaged a human in battle once. It is a shock that you progressed from such a timid behavior around them to ruthless killing within one battle._

The Shadow-Blender nodded in confirmation and backed away a little bit, lowering his head in respect.

There was a moment of silence; I didn’t really know how to respond to that. Pushing the Viking forward, I said, “Would you take this as an offering, Your Majesty?”

She wrinkled her nose and bared her teeth, making me believe for a heart-stopping moment that I was about to be dinner. _No!_ She growled, repulsion dripping from her voice. _I do not eat humans._ Shaking her head, she seemed to collect her thoughts for a moment before she spoke, _You did not bring this human here as a simple offering, Shadow-Blender._

I bowed low in confirmation, the only sounds present being my racing heart and uneasy breaths. “Yes, my Queen,” I said to the black stones before me.

 _I understand your intentions. However—you acted out of impulse. You were frightened for your brothers and sisters and acted before putting any thought into it. Would you be able to do it again, Shadow-Blender?_ I raised my head and nodded firmly, and she drew in closer. The surrounding dragons scampered away. _I am hard-pressed to agree, my child. While you have somewhat proved that you are capable of defense, you also disobeyed me in your actions._

My eyes widened. Trying to keep my voice strong and confident, I said, “I technically wasn’t within the human’s range when I attacked him—this was from my fire. I was high above their buildings when I shot him, and he didn’t even see it coming.” The dragons around me murmured to themselves. While I couldn’t quite catch what they were saying, they sounded…surprised? I glanced over at the Shadow-Blender for and explanation, but he was staring at me in horror.

Oh. Oops.

The Queen narrowed her eyes. _Is that so?_ Pulling away from me, she asked, _Who is the Two-Leg that was saved?_

Out from under a little ditch off to my right, the yellow-green dragon stepped out, quivering and head as low as he could keep it without dragging along the ground. ”Y-yes, Your Majesty?” He all but whimpered.

 _Is it true that the Shadow-Blender attacked from afar and was not engaged in combat with this human?_ The Queen questioned him.

With a flick of his tail the Two-Leg nodded. “Yes,” he all but whispered, “I was beneath the human and a great flash came from afar. He was so far away that I couldn’t see him.”

 _Thank you, my child. You may go._ The Two-Leg seemed more relieved than was warranted as he fluttered away. The Queen paid him no mind and returned her full attention to me. _I will admit that it is impressive how far you will go to do what you believe is right, Shadow-Blender. I have yet to meet a dragon as strong-willed as yourself in many years. Your knack for not listening to orders is dangerous, however, and has resulted in your injury on numerous occasions._ I couldn’t help but glance at the scar on my side as she said this. _You must learn that we do what we do for many reasons, no matter how strongly you oppose it._

 _That being said_ , she went on, _I request you to be completely honest with me. Will you truly be able to fight humans in the way that you desire?_

I stared straight into her eyes. “Absolutely.”

_Will you be able to kill again?_

I didn’t allow myself to pause and consider this and promised, “Without hesitation.” I could feel myself shaking in excitement, having long figured out where the Queen was going with this. Finally!

_You may dispose of the body in whatever way you please._

I leaned down with unsheathed teeth, preparing to bite off a hunk of meat. But then came the problem of the clothing and armor, which would take much too long to disassemble. With a dismissive grunt I instead grabbed the body and flew out above the pit. I spun once for momentum and hurled it down into the depths, then dove below the clouds just in time to watch it smack into the lava, catch fire, and burn to ashes.

Satisfied, I caught a heat thermal and rode it back into the main cavern of the nest, gliding back to my previous perch and standing with my head held high.

For a second, it almost looked like the Queen was smirking. But such an expression would not be on a dragon as kind and loving as her; I must have been mistaken. _Well done, my child_ , she congratulated me. _You have done enough. From this day forth, you and your kin may engage in combat with humans in any way that you feel is suitable. However_ , she raised her head far above me and looked down, a firm frown set on her face. _If you attempt to disobey any of my orders, your rights will be revoked._

Bowing low, I exclaimed, “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

 _You are most welcome._ With that, the Queen returned back to her magma bath, leaving the rest of us to return to our duties.

“Shadow-Blender!” The Little-Biter cried from afar. I turned towards his voice to see him stumbling over himself in a hurry to get to me, a huge grin on his face. When he finally got to me, he panted, “Congratulations! I knew you could do it!”

Bouncing a little in excitement, I couldn’t help but shout in the same tone, “Thank you! This is just…wow!” Stooping to let him climb on my scales, I turned to meet a crowd of dragons that had formed around me, all asking questions and offering well wishes to me. In that moment, with all of my people happy for me simply because _I_ was happy, it finally clicked.

I was a part of the Us now.

The crowd eventually separated to let the Shadow-Blender through. He looked reserved, but still said, “Well done. Not exactly something I was hoping for, but I will take advantage of the Queen’s blessing.” He allowed himself a very small smile, breaking his Mr. Grumpy exterior. “I look forward to what we can bring to the nest.”

“Together?” I asked, somewhat surprised. I knew that in some point in time, I would have been filled with hope. But now…well. The last time we had worked together was when we faced the sea dragon, and look where that got us.

The Shadow-Blender tipped his head aside, studying me like a piece of produce. He shrugged, his grin falling, and retreated back into the mass of dragons. He looked almost guilty, eyes downcast, head low, and ears drooping.

“Eh, I wouldn’t let that bother you much,” the Little-Biter brushed it off. I nodded in agreement, sparing the Shadow-Blender one last glance before returning to the others.

* * *

The day the Queen announced that spring had begun was met with anticipation of good and bad times. With the ocean freeing itself from the ice’s grip and the snow melting away under the sun’s scolding gaze, new sources of food became available and the bitter cold was swept away. But the more prominent the snowmelt became, the more likely there was to be a Viking ship sailing through our territory.

All of the dragons gathered atop the nest to watch the first sunrise of spring and welcome it to the world. It was a tradition, I learned, that had not been broken for decades.

“So, this is your first time?” A Hum-Wing nearby asked me as we stared at the gray eastern sky.

I grinned. “Yeah. It’s a lot more exciting that I first thought it would be.” I swept my gaze over the huge gathering of dragons, all facing the same direction. “It’s so…tight-knit,” I went on, unable to grasp the words that I’d been looking for.

 _An Us_ , I thought in glee. _I’m part of the Us now._

Chuckling, the Hum-Wing patted me on the leg. “Yes, the Queen brings us together in the best ways, does she not?” He sat down hard, his hind legs sticking up in the air. “Just you wait—it’s going to get a lot better.”

“Don’t ruin the surprise!” The Little-Biter hissed from on top of my head. This earned a few chuckles from those that had overheard.

Laughing, I said, “Little-Biter, I already know about—!“

“The Dragon of the Sun!” Someone roared at the top of their lungs. “There He is!”

The whole tribe fell silent as we watched the disk of life breach the ocean and bless the earth with its warmth. The sky woke up with streaks of neon orange and red, the clouds catching the light and shifting from pastel purples and pinks to luminescent golden, their edges blinding white. The ocean responded in its own special way, looking almost like a deep field of grayish-green, the last chunks of ice nothing but sparkles on the world’s edge.

Everyone began to breathe in deeply as the sun shook itself further and further into the sky. Once it was fully visible, a single dragon—The Shadow-Blender, I soon realized—announced that spring had come.

Every single dragon shot their strongest fire into the sky, lighting the remaining undertones of the night with the sun’s gift upon us. Mine and the Shadow-Blender’s went particularly high and exploded, leaving two rings of blue-white on opposite sides of the light show. There were sparks and booms and crackles as more individuals pushed their all into the ceremony, and finally, there was nothing left but the remaining purple rings from the two Shadow-Blender shots, both of them just centimeters short of touching each other. I looked over in the direction where I heard his voice and saw his flame come from, but he was lost among the other dragons.

Cheering and stomping soon filled the air as dragons celebrated, and the Little-Biter couldn’t seem to contain himself as he ran up and down my back, screaming, “Spring is here! Spring is here!”

The Hum-Wing that had spoken to me earlier launched himself above the nest and whooped, “What are we waiting for?! Let’s celebrate!”

From sunrise to sundown, that was exactly what we did. We danced in the sky, we sang to the gods, we raced each other and played games, and we told stories of the recent winter and of past springs. We shared memories of mating seasons (something that had been pushed back to late spring last year instead of winter, and thus I had not attended) and hatchlings doing idiotically amusing things, and we congratulated each other on hard battles well-won.

As the sun set we finally moved back into the nest, exhausted in the best possible way. I created a nice bed of coals in the center of a group and lied down, content with just listening for a while.

Across the nest I managed to find the Shadow-Blender for the first time that day and somehow caught his eye, sending him a smile across the chasm. He gave a formal, polite nod in return and looked away, his interest drawn by a conversation between two dragons nearby.

“Hey, Shadow-Blender,” the Little-Biter grabbed my attention, poking me in the leg. “Tell them about the time you managed to get stuck in a pine tree!”

The dragons all around me burst into laughter, and I grumbled in mock-anger, “You _had_ to bring that up, didn’t you?”

It turned out that it wasn’t as embarrassing as I’d thought it would come off, though. Soon I was pulled into the cycle of storytelling that went far into the night, simply laughing with my nestmates and enjoying their company. As the party drew itself to a close, the nest stilled as its occupants drifted off to sleep.

Curled up in my group of at least fifteen others, it dawned on me that these dragons were my family, my loved ones, those who I could not stand to lose and who felt the same towards me.

That was the most restful sleep that I ever had.


	13. Chapter 13

Two wingbeats above it and a Flame-Skin’s length away, I snapped my wings in and swung through the air, my claws extended and teeth sheathed. The human had but a moment to see its death in my grip and made a futile attempt to raise its double-bladed axe to my throat. It was too late. I smacked into its thick breast plate with the force of an avalanche, the crushing of bones sending vibrations up through my paws. The demon collapsed, and I raised my head with a deep breath, sending a rainfall of flames upon her.

Taking a casual step off of the dented, burnt body, I gave an aggressive snort and looked to each of the remaining humans. They were wise enough to stop everything and run for their lives. Just to show them who was boss, though, I sent small fireballs at their heels. That’ll teach them to try and attack a Shadow-Blender!

The field they had been defending was absent but for myself and a few cowering sheep. I picked out the biggest one and was on it in two bounds, opening my wings and carrying it away as it pawed at the air. The dead Viking below hovered at the edge of my sight, and with a stern frown I forced the gruesome image out of my focus—dragons do not feel guilty about killing humans.

Besides, it’s not like it was _my_ fault. I had just been defending myself, after all…

The higher in altitude I went, the further out I could see. The whole village was in disarray, its homes sent up in flames and the sky choked with smoke. I spotted another pasture that was largely untouched, hidden partly in a small forest and dotted with animals. Going into a hover, I pressed my lips together and squinted in thought. The livestock currently in my claws was pretty heavy, but maybe if I could find a net, I could carry multiple? I would probably need another dragon’s help, actually, but—

Amidst the grey and blood-red light, a flash of near-heavenly white  burst like lightning nearby, morphing to purple while the Shadow-Blender’s silhouette sped past it. The watch-tower that had guarded the fields—and had given my position away in the first place—became nothing but a pile of rubble, and I was just barely able to see the Shadow-Blender moving into the fields. He was employing our species’ signature magic, perfecting it so much that I lost sight of him while I was looking directly at him.

A sheep seemed to take flight, and out of the darkness the Shadow-Blender’s form appeared, melting into the air in the same way that mist rises from frigid lakes. He took quick notice of my creepy, awkward staring, and nodded once.

“Good job. The Queen will be pleased with that offering.” He came up to my level and swung his eyes over what remained of the human village after our devastating blow. “I believe we’ve completed our mission here.”

I nodded in agreement. The task had been a little bit more than a raid today: take as much food as possible and devastate the humans’ island. They had become fierce warriors over the months, enough to be considered a threat by the Queen. Which meant we had to eradicate them.

“Uh, yeah,” I finally said, realizing that I had gone quiet. The Shadow-Blender glanced over at me, and for a moment I thought he was going to make a joke. But then he swooped away, rising above the fire-cloud and giving the retreat call. The rest of the flare sprung up like wayward embers to meet him.

Well, most of the flare. I glided over the ruined buildings, my eyes darting back and forth and stinging in the ash. A flash of speckled green managed to stand out against the cacophony right below me. I pulled straight up, spun several times, and then dove back where I had been. The Little-Biter jumped onto my back with practiced ease, and not a second later the storehouse he’d set fire to collapsed to the ground.

“Big sheep!” He said, leaning over my shoulder to look at the shell-shocked bovine. “I got myself some fish in my gullet, too! That’s a whole bunch from the two of us!” I could practically hear him puffing up his chest in pride as he spoke.

Allowing a grin to slide onto my face, I said, “I’m sure she’ll be proud of you, too!”

We reached the cloud, momentarily engulfed in a heavy black. Then we breached into the cool, aurora-lined sky, the smoke below us turned turquoise. The rest of the flare was waiting for us, and the Shadow-Blender looked a teensy bit annoyed. He shot a glare at the Little-Biter and led us away with a chirp and flick of his head.

I let myself glance back towards the village one more time. The smoke had a hole in it, allowing me a glimpse of the ruin, the dead, the flames. Then it was swallowed by the blackness, and we flocked back to the nest under the moonless sky.

* * *

“Try it again.”

My head pounded, by limbs shook, and my wings felt like nothing but frail, soaked paper ready to rip open at a moment’s notice. Still I took wing, flinging myself straight up and executing a backwards roll. The ocean came up to greet me, my wings sending waves up to match them in height on either side of me, and the island passed by as nothing but a little pebble. My magic reserves, opened throughout the entire duration, fought back tooth and nail; they were reluctant to aid me.

I plopped onto the island once more, panting with my tongue hanging out. “Dragon of the Sun, I’m tired,” I gasped.

The Shadow-Blender padded over and sat in front of me, perplexed. “I don’t understand,” he began. “You’re fine with this kind of magic until you try to break the limits that you established last winter. Why can’t you surpass them?”

“I don’t know!” I groaned, rolling onto my back to let the cool air reach my belly. “It’s like every time I try to do anything past that, I’m trying to grab a mountain and move it somewhere!”

We’d been at this the entire morning. At first I’d been able to enhance myself with magic, make myself faster, more durable, stronger. The second I pushed my magic, though, the headaches started. The sun had rolled up to its highest point and begun to sunk, and I had made literally _no_ progress.

 Shadow-Blenders were naturally the strongest magic-users in the dragon kingdom. Yet I could barely do the basics, and I couldn’t even pass the tests that mere fledgelings could! How was I supposed to be a leader to my people when I was so weak and scrawny? How was I going to learn to use magic when I had gone through so many mentors, when the only magic-user at my level couldn’t even pass his knowledge onto me?

The Shadow-Blender lay down next to me, looking down with scrunched eyebrows. “May I look at your magic?” He asked. His voice shook just a little bit. I nodded.

“…well…roll back over.”

“Oh!” With a somewhat sheepish grin, I squirmed around and pulled my head up to be on the same plane as him. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine.

I could feel his presence, something flickering and uncertain that spread through my mind like a fog. It had a hint of something familiar and malevolent, but whatever it was dissipated when I put any sort of focus into it. After some searching, the Shadow-Blender’s magic reached out to the heart of my magic, where it was positioned directly in the center of my forehead.

Something sparked, an impossibility forced to exist that created its own repulsion. My eyes burned and a headache spun my head in on itself, forcing me to jump away just to avoid being knocked out! Blinking against a blinding curtain of stars, I stumbled away on stiff legs, narrowly avoiding tripping right off the cliff we were on in the process. Unable to do anything but squint and grind my teeth, I sunk to the ground and twisted my neck in the direction my mentor had been.

The Shadow-Blender was crouched low enough that his stomach brushed the rocks, spines bristling and teeth and claws unsheathed. His eyes looked like they were swallowing his entire face up in a vast lake of aurora-green, his pupils imperceptible. Had he not been breathing so laboriously, he’d have looked like he was carved out of the soil.

I’d never seen him look so horrified.

His glazed eyes remained locked on me for a long, dreary expanse of time. Then, rubbing his head, he said, “…I think you should go to the Queen.”

* * *

The first thing I did when we got back to the nest was take a nosedive towards the pit. The dragons hovering in my way were easy to dodge, but they still voiced loud complaints about “flying too fast”.

The ocean of lava was tranquil, as still as a puddle after rainfall. I drew up short with a raised eyebrow. Where was the Queen? It’s not like she just decided to take an afternoon stroll.

I was seriously considering the idea of an underground tunnel big enough for her when she finally burst into the open, scaring my scales off! I yelped and hustled out of her way before she smacked into me, my heart hammering out of my chest.

_Oh, dear! Apologies, Shadow-Blender. I did not realize your close proximity to me._

“It’s good,” I panted, forcing myself to keep from hunching over to catch my breath.

_And what brings you here at this time? Were you not practicing your magic with the other Shadow-Blender?_

I nodded, shook my head, and, confused, nodded again. “I was, but, uh…” Chasing off the uncertainty building in my chest, I said, “Something went wrong. I was hoping you could help me…?”

 _Of course, little one._ The Queen drew close, tilting her head so that she could peer at me. _What was so catastrophic that it hindered your progress? You were doing well with magic, yes?_

I hung my head. “…no. I can only do the basic stuff. Like making my fire stronger, or my flight faster. I mean, for a while, I was getting better at it. But now when I try to go past that, I just—I can’t.” Peeking up at the Queen’s patient eye, I admitted, “The Shadow-Blender tried to look at my magic to see what was wrong, because a while ago he said it was different because I’m not from here. But when he did, it was like…like…it was like nothing I’d ever felt. I mean, I get some pretty bad headaches, but I can usually shake them off,” I tried to explain.

The Queen’s loving smile wavered and was replaced with a neutral line. A little deterred, I finished, “This was nothing like them, though. It was like a forest fire inside my head, and it hurt the Shadow-Blender, too.”

She paused for thought. _It seems your magic is wild and dangerous_ , the Queen worried. _I do not wish for you to stress it any more than your current limits that remain safe to use._

“But—!”

The gentle, motherly grin rose from her lips again. _Shadow-Blender, you have attempted to strengthen your magic ever since you were discovered and guided here. You have gone from mentor to mentor, myself included, like an agitated sparrow. If the effort of the entire nest cannot aid you, and the abilities that you seek result in the pain of yourself and other dragons, do you honestly believe it to be worth the pursuit?_

Ducking my head, I said, “…I…guess not.”

The Queen nodded. _You are correct, young Shadow-Blender. I will suggest you take your focus off of your unpredictable magic and pull all of your efforts into abilities that you can sharpen. Your agility, stamina, and aim can be expanded beyond barriers you cannot even imagine. Focus on dividing your shot limit, making your fire less powerful but more numerous as your superior does. It is for the better that these are what you aim to perfect—not a species of magic that cannot be controlled by its user._ She tipped her head to the side, inquiring, _Do you agree?_

That…that made a lot of sense. Why couldn’t I see that earlier? Suddenly it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my wings, allowing me to fly to my heart’s content. I returned her soft smile. “I do. Thank you, my Queen.”

_Think nothing of it, my child._

* * *

“I will now be leading a hunting party to the southern islands, departing immediately!”

The call echoed through the nest, gaining attention as fast as it traveled. Dragons dropped everything and leaped from their activities to go to the Shadow-Blender, swarming in an attempt to be a part of his team.

An older Flame-Skin took position at his direct right and raised his head high. I looked away.

“Are we not going?” The Little-Biter asked, jumping off my back to sit in front of my nose. He tilted his head to the side, his brows drawn in.

“I was planning on doing a raid tonight,” I told him, glancing over at the newly-formed flare surrounding the Shadow-Blender. He finished counting the members of his team and nodded in approval, opening his wings and darting out of the nest with the speed of an arrow. The rest followed in a river of colors and wings.

“It’s too late, anyways,” I said. My voice was drowned out by the flurry, a single sound amongst thousands, and it was only until I had spoken that I realized that there was still a hollowness that I could not explain.

I brushed it off.

* * *

_Okay, Shadow-Blender. Time to go._

The stones beneath me shook loose underneath my claws, tumbling down the outcropping. My rear left leg was slow to climb, and it took me longer than I would have liked to reach the top. I stood at the peak, glancing over the large pod of dragons that had nearest to me. Earlier, the Queen had requested that I take a hunting party out. I had been waiting all day for a group like this to form; most of the nest had gone out at some point to hunt either for themselves or the Queen, which meant that more than enough had been gone at any given time to delay me. Now that the sun was setting, though…

“I‘m going to take a raid to the eastern islands in a few hours!” I declared. All eyes swung to me. My ears flattened, and I was forced to remind myself that this was not necessarily a _bad_ thing. In a meeker tone, I added, “So…uh…who’s coming?”

“Me!” The Little-Biter shouted as loud as he could. While sitting on my back. Now I had a different thing to cringe about, so I guess I had that to distract me from the _swarm of dragons around me_ great Dragon of the Sun where did they come from?!

I was so surprised by the speed it took the others to come to me that I sat down, openmouthed. A group of Flame-Skins were bickering over who would be on my right, several Two-Heads and Two-Walkers were hanging out next to me, and Hum-Wings and Little-Biters were filling in all the gaps. The only dragon (besides the Little-Biter) that sat down with confidence beside me was the Hum-Wing from the spring ceremony.

He grinned and nudged me with a pudgy foot. “Not used to the popularity, eh?”

“How am I going to choose from all of these people?” I whined. “The Shadow-Blender never has this problem!”

The Hum-Wing shrugged. “He laid down his rules long ago. He prefers small, capable teams, so once there is a group around him, other dragons stay away. Because you have not done that and usually allow any dragon to come with you, you get big groups like this.” Eyeing the thunderous crowd, he said, “You are too nice. I suggest you do as the Shadow-Blender does and whittle them down.”

I had to exclude other dragons?  That...wasn’t what I wanted. If I had to, though…

Ears drooping, I stood up and gave a loud roar, bringing the cacophony down to a slightly quieter level.

“Alright…I’m going to have to ask a few of you to stay behind…”

* * *

“That was terrible.”

“It wasn’t _that_ bad.”

“I _broke_ that Two-Head’s heart!” I hissed to the Little-Biter, glancing over at the dragon in question. He was so upset he was just sprawled out on the ground, covering his heads with his wings!

The Little-Biter didn’t seem so concerned. “He was too young. His magic would be mediocre, and even he admitted to you he had never been in a raid.” Shrinking up into a little ball, he added, “ _And_ he was looking at me all mean.”

“Yeah, but…”

The Hum-Wing from before caught my eye from another group and buzzed over. “See? That wasn’t too bad!”

I groaned and flopped over.

* * *

I will admit that my flare was, in a word, elite. I had whittled down the dozens who wanted to join to a group of fifteen, myself and the Little-Biter not included. It was small for a raid—but that meant we could concentrate our efforts, work in an organized group, and strike swiftly and deftly. Minimal damage would be applied to the dragons, and maximum to the humans’ village. If all went according to plan, we would leave with plenty of food and a threat more or less disbanded for a month or two.

With the sun at our backs, we flew into the Dragoness of the Moon’s sky, the twilight above bleeding away with each passing moment. I went over my plan with the others, answering their numerous questions and putting their minds at ease. My style of attacking human villages was apparently unlike any other dragon’s; it took them awhile to fully grasp what they were supposed to do.

We were shrouded in the cool navies and emeralds of the night sky by the time I was sure that my team could follow through. I stopped giving instructions, and all of the chatter died away just as fast. Even the Little-Biter seemed to have nothing to say. We spent the rest of the trip with nothing but the chilled springtime air, the stars, and the ocean below. The moon seemed dim.

The island that I had targeted was a trading village, but did not seem to be one that was very well-known. The Queen had not sent too many teams there, which meant that they would be both unprepared and well-stocked. As we drew in and its flat girth became visible, highlighted in silver, it became clear that they were not alone.

 There was a multitude of ships docked, but a few of them were not made with the same style. Once we were close enough, it was easy to see that the insignia on the sails were completely different; they showed a red, serpentine dragon with a golden underbelly and blue accent scales on its chest breathing fire. The native ships had a much more endearing symbol of a spring-green Flame-Skin with two arrows piercing its heart and coals at its feet.

The travelers’ ships were…almost familiar…

My head began to compress, and with a scowl I shook my head. No! I wasn’t going to deal with this again! Especially not during a raid.

“Okay, guys!” I called out to my team. Just in case, I reiterated one last time, “Time to spread out. Go in teams of one Flame-Skin, one Two-Head, and one Hum-Wing. There should be five altogether. When I give the signal, we strike. Okay?”

The dragons gave various roars and shrieks of confirmation. I smirked, looking over my shoulder at them. With a single, powerful throttle of my wings, I raced ahead, climbing as high as the few clouds that dotted the sky. My flare separated and swept over the village, looking like nothing but shadows from above.

The Little-Biter clutched one of my spines with all his might. I took a second to take in the village, find a weak point to exploit.

Then I pulled my wings in, dropping as if crippled to the earth. The whistle of my kind blasted through the air, and a few faint human voices began to shout. I was almost completely perpendicular to the ground, my nose pointed directly down and my tail completely straight. The seconds that I knew I could branch on darted away, and over the rushing wind and my fire building up, the Little-Biter shouted to me to pull up.

“ _Night fury!_ ”

“ _Get down!_ ”

The blue-white ball struck the tower not at its peak, but its midsection. It burst out in an explosion of neon purple and blue, hurling the entire top half off of its foundations. Instead of opening my wings and pulling out, I tucked them against my side and darted through the hole I had just created, corkscrewing to get above the falling tower half and spinning to level myself out. Then I flung another fireball into the top just before it smacked into the ground, setting it up in flames. Now basically a flaming wheel of death, it rolled through the village and set fire to quite a few houses before turning on its side.

There were five simultaneous explosions. I banked out of sight, and as I rose I saw that a patch of fire was placed on each edge of the village that I had decided on. The Flame-Skins were leaping from building to building with magic-blessed flames clinging to their scales and leaping onto the wood. The Hum-Wings were followed close behind, smashing anything they could and saving their fire only for most dire circumstances. The Two-Heads hovered low over the streets, filling them with gas and then lighting them once a big enough area had been covered.

Excellent. Part one of my plan had been executed perfectly. The humans were already rushing to the outskirts of their village, weapons at the ready. They were spread out thin due to the placement of my flare, but one group in particular was much bigger than the rest: the one heading towards all of the houses.

While I knew they could handle themselves, _that_ was a bit too much for just three dragons to handle. I trailed above the Vikings, biding my time. The houses drew in, forcing them to clump together. The howl of the Shadow-Blender burst through the air, and as I plummeted towards them, I couldn’t help but grin when they all ducked and held their puny wooden shields over their heads.

My fire smacked right into their midst, sending plenty flying back and injuring many more with the shrapnel alone. I swooped in a perfect arc back up, angling myself so that I could circle the village. All of the other groups were engaged in battle, but they were smart enough to stay as high as they could and stick to the smokescreen caused by the Flame-Skins’ fire. Still, I narrowed my eyes. There wasn’t much at all; they were going to be pinned soon and forced to retreat above, which would send the warriors closer to the center of the village.

Well, we couldn’t have that.

Four times I built my fire, and four times I shot into a crowd of unsuspecting Vikings. Blood was splattered, fires set, weapons and shields breaking apart! Which each shot the next group of humans was more prepared, and I flipped and spun around thrown weapons and arrows, aiding my speed with magic to become nothing but a darting flicker of color. It was dangerous and a tad reckless, especially when I had used up all but one of my shots, but I was _giddy!_ With a laugh I broke apart the last group and let loose a roar, signaling part two of the plan.

All at once everyone retreated to the now-empty center of the village. I directed each group to a different place to search for food, reserving one to go out to the pastures. I stayed behind with the other four, eager to find a storehouse to bring back a massive stock to the Queen.

In the end, the Little-Biter and I entered a smallish building that reeked of burnt meat and fish. It could really only be some sort of shop, but that would mean it also had some stores in it. I knocked the door down and we sprung in, the Little-Biter leaping off my back and scrambling to the backroom. I sniffed around for a second to locate the freshest scents and padded in after him.

The Little-Biter had already found several strings of salted meat and was still searching around, pawing at a container that I promptly knocked over. And lo, a bunch of fish came tumbling out! I scarfed it all down, shoving as much as I could in my gullet for the Queen. This was fantastic! A little disgusting and old and slimy, but still pretty great!

A quick scan revealed that apparently this shop had been a struggling one, as it had no other food left. The Little-Biter jumped onto my back, the strings dangling and catching around my spines, and I sprinted out of the shop as fast as my slightly-limping gait could take me. We’d been in there for less than three minutes—but that was all the time a human needed to kill a dragon.

We were met with an empty street. My plan had gone exceptionally well, more so than I ever thought! I held my ears straight up and rose on my hind legs, but no cries for help pierced through the song of battle. There was only screams of pain and confusion, none of them dragon. I let out a gleeful whoop. “This is going great!”

The Little-Biter pranced atop my forehead. “We sure— _Shadow-Blender!_ ” His squeal cut off with a high-pitched squeak of terror, and with a thump he jumped onto my back.

I unsheathed my teeth and claws, spinning to find the threat. A few bounds down the street, closer than any human had ever been to me, a Viking had stepped out of an alley and was facing us. Their features were hard to make out behind the shield they held in front of them, but the shape of a long sword was unmistakable. I crouched low, stomped on the ground, and gave a heavy snarl.

The Viking, for whatever reason, lowered its shield. I locked my pine eyes with those of the exact same color, those that showed an expression I had never seen on a human before—sorrow.

_Dad._

The world fell away in a clashing of agony and numbness. My eyes lost their abilities and my legs their strength, and although I knew I fell I didn’t feel myself hit the ground. My entire head—the center of my forehead, specifically—felt as though it was being shredded apart bit by bit, like a venom was coursing through it and dissolving everything in its path and burning away what little remained. My ears popped and rang, a high-pitched screeching of outrage becoming the only existence I knew of. I blinked my unfeeling eyelids rapidly, just barely making out two spots on the edge of my sightlessness. They flickered like weak candlelit flames, barely distinguishable from the darkness.

_No…not again…not now…_

A wave of nothingness spread through what was left of my mind, transforming everything in its path into itself. I could do nothing but observe it, wondering what it was, what it was doing, and why the two lights had flared. It coated more and more, stealing away everything and…

…

…my eyes snapped open, bringing me face-to-face with the Little-Biter, whose paws were placed on my cheeks while he begged me to get up. I blinked in confusion; where were we? How did we get here? Everything hurt—especially my head. All I wanted to do was curl up and sleep it off.

The Little-Biter would have none of it. He clamped his jaw down on my ear. Hard. Yelping, I twisted around to snap at him to leave me alone. The command died in my throat.

There was a human right across from us!

Thank the Dragon of the Sun he seemed rooted to the spot. He was staring at us like he’d never seen dragons before. The spell on him broke only when I got to my feet, and with a terrifyingly fierce battle cry, he barreled right towards us!

Leaping back, I spun midair and swept my tail around, snapping it right into him like a whip. It didn’t knock him down as planned, instead pushing him aside, and he recovered far faster than I could have thought! And worse still, I landed on my bad leg just the wrong way, sending waves of pain up through it and giving him time to charge again! Unable to take flight without risking my gut being strewn open, I waited for him to draw closer and rose onto my hind legs, smacking him away just as he was about to plunge his sword into my scales! He fell back and I gathered up my fire, readying to finish him off. The flames rushed from my throat and I relaxed, knowing that the battle was over.

The Viking raised his shield and thrust it against the bolt, dispersing it evenly over his shield—his sturdy, _metallic_ shield. It had been reinforced! While I was still standing vulnerable and shocked, he threw his sword right for me!

I flung myself to the ground a second too late, and the weapon that was aimed for the center of my throat sliced clean through the side of my neck. I gasped at the pain that was very, very real—too real. The wound was deep, and blood was draining out in a torrent! I wouldn’t be able to fight him and still have the strength to fly back!

“Little-Biter!” I cried, bringing him from cowering against a building back to me. He leaped onto my back and I squared my feet, bundling all of my muscles together.

The Viking’s eyes widened. “ _No!_ ” He said, his voice rough and shaking. He grabbed a hammer on his belt and came at me, his eyes still holding that strange, pained glint.

He was too slow; I launched myself straight off the ground, flaring my wings out and catching the wind right as he swung the weapon. The retreat cry ripped from my throat—the first time I’d ever used it to stop a raid. Panting and lightheaded, I went into a hover to look down at the Viking.

Despite the injury he had given me, I was drawn to him. A need to learn and understand rose from somewhere deep within me. Why was he so surprised to see me? Why did he act as though my mere existence caused him torment?

Most importantly, why was he so familiar?

Everything stopped.

* * *

The ocean’s gentle waves were the first thing I heard. With those came the soothing caress of the wind and the ruffling of wings gliding on air currents. I tried to open my eyes, but they were so heavy.

Something was gripping me hard, wrapping around my entire side and connecting at my stomach. My wings were folded up awkwardly, one hanging limp between a break in my bindings and the other scrunched up so tight, it sent pain running through it. My tail and legs were dangling in the air, motionless like those of a dead animal.

I tried to open my eyes again, managing to squint and see the death-dark waves below. I could see a hint of orange-red where my stomach was.

It was not rope that held me immobile, I realized—it was a Flame-Skin. From the scent coming off the claws, it was the one who had flown on my direct right. The noises coming from other dragons flying was even on both sides, which meant that he was the point of the formation, leading the flare.

I wanted to break free out of the Flame-Skin’s gentle grip and take my position again, tell everyone that I was okay. My head still thundered, though, and everything felt so heavy. I blinked rapidly to try and keep myself awake, but could not keep the darkness at bay for any longer amount of time that I already had.

My eyes slid shut, and I drifted away.

* * *

According to the Little-Biter, the nest was sent into a panic when I was carried back, limp and still as a corpse. The Queen had been horrified and administered healing magic herself, ordering that I had the next half-day for rest alone. I came to with the Little-Biter knocked out on my head and my entire flare keeping watch over me. They were all ecstatic to see that I had woken up, wishing me well and refusing to leave my side even when I told them all that they were silly and I was fine. They even said that I was the only one to get that close to a human that night, praising me for my admirable bravery.

On top of that, in front of me were a few fish, which I was grateful for despite the fact that I had filled my stomach earlier from the raid. One piece in particular—the biggest one—caught my attention, but not in the way I expected. It had the Shadow-Blender’s scent on it.

I was smiling for the rest of the night.

* * *

For the next week or so, I was to abstain from participating in raids. It was not entirely my decision.

The Queen had given me a speech that was basically her just saying “stay away from humans and don’t hurt yourself” wrapped up in a bunch of nice words and implications. Downtrodden, I accepted her advice, even though every part of me wanted to tell her that my wound was just a scratch.

The odd Viking continued to wrestle his way into the forefront of my mind. Every single time I gave myself a headache trying to figure out why he was so _different._ I could never truly decide on why, just that he was…him.

Two days after my failed raid, I was lying on some heated stones mulling it over again when the Shadow-Blender announced that the Queen would like him to take a flare out to scout for more food. I jumped right up, eager to get out of the nest’s perimeter!

The Little-Biter, snoozing atop my neck, gave a tiny squeak as I got up and trotted over, my limp a little more pronounced due to the rocky, uneven ground. “Shadow-Blender, what are you doing—“ he cut himself off with a dramatic gasp. “No! You’re supposed to stay here!”

“No, I’m supposed to stay away from _humans_ ,” I reminded him with a smirk. “The Queen never said anything about these kind of missions.” Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to come back up just to tell me to stay here.

“That is correct, but you are not joining this flare today.”

Eyes widening, I spun to my left, where the Shadow-Blender had been the entire time. He held a stern and uncompromising look, his brows drawn and jaw set. Still, I exclaimed, “What?! Why not?”

“We will be going to islands occupied by humans,” the Shadow-Blender said. “I can’t allow you to come in good conscience. You have to stay here.”

“I can just stay above those islands, then! I don’t I have to go down to those!” I tried to bargain.

“No!” The Little-Biter piped in, jumped off of me and sitting down next to the Shadow-Blender. “Do you know what happens when you do something you’re told not to?” When I said nothing, he pressed, “Well, do you?”

“I get a bravery award?” I said flatly.

At once, both the Little-Biter and Shadow-Blender snapped, “ _No!_ ” They turned to each other, surprised, and then seemed to decide that they had better things to do. Like reprimanding me.

“The Queen said to stay away from humans!” The Little-Biter snipped.

“You also have a knack for not paying attention,” the Shadow-Blender added.

“And you can get hurt by another human!” The Little-Biter realized, his eyes growing wide.

“There is also the chance that you will decide not to listen and then get yourself in a mess that _I_ have to fix,” the Shadow-Blender continued a breath after the Little-Biter had spoken.

“Your limp could get in the way, too!” The Little-Biter exclaimed despite such an incident never occurring.

“In addition—“

Finally having enough of it, I opened my wings and shouted, “Okay! Fine! I won’t go!”

“Good!” The odd duo stated, once again sharing a bewildered glance. The Shadow-Blender snorted, keeping his head high, and the Little-Biter pawed at the ground and tried to cover his face with his wing. I gave them my best grumpy scowl.

The flare the Shadow-Blender had accumulated shifted and glanced around. Eventually, a Two-Walker was pushed out of a group and almost tripped over herself coming over. She nudged the Shadow-Blender’s side and said, “Shall we be off now?”

He nodded. “Yes. Sorry about the delay.” Jumping up into a hover, he waited for the rest of them to do the same. The Shadow-Blender looked down at me, locking his sickly-green eyes with mine. They were masked with practiced ease, but if I were naïve enough, I could see just a hint of _something_ there. He turned away, and the scouting party rushed out of the nest, leaving me to sit around and do _nothing_ productive.

My thoughts returned to the Viking whose eyes were the same as mine.

* * *

Don’t get me wrong—spring is pretty great. It gets warmer so we don’t freeze our tails off, the animals reproduce and give us a new food source, and the snow and ice goes away. It’s a pretty celebratory time of the year as well, with the Dragon of the Sun’s blessing on the earth causing the springtime change and all.

There’s just one thing that _sucks_ about spring.

Idiotic humans enter the stone forest in search of our nest, packing enough weapons and supplies to rage a war. We have no choice but to fight them—to sit around and hope that the forest becomes too narrow for their deft ships would lead to them discovering and killing all of us.

Really, we were lucky the Vikings hesitated so long. They apparently would go right to it once the ice withdrew, but this spring, they waited a few weeks. Most dragons were convinced that they were gone for good, but I was put on edge. Vikings were stubborn, hateful creatures that saw no reason. They weren’t staying away because they feared us—no, they were delaying because they were building enough resources to try and take us all out at once.

So when a Two-Walker burst into the nest with the speed of a Shadow-Blender and shrieked that they had seen a fleet of Viking ships entering the stone forest, my first reaction was to choke on the fish I was eating.

The nest succumbed to disarray, dragons flying in every direction and filling the nest with a booming drone. I squeezed my eyes shut and clutched my ears in an attempt to fight off the nausea and disorientation that came with the loud noise. It was no use; I could already tell that I would not be able to stand up in this loud mess, and by the sounds of several dragons smacking into things, it seemed that I was not the only one.

_Children! Calm yourselves!_

I forced my eyes open at the Queen’s voice. Most dragons had fled the center of the pit, but a Two-Head remained, young enough to still have the size of an adolescent. They were shouting something about how the humans were going to find the nest and kill everyone.

There was a sharp whistling of air. The fog bulged, the light below growing brighter and brighter.

The Queen burst from the pit and crunched her jaw on the Two-Head’s tail, dragging them screaming into crevice. The nest stopped altogether; every dragon in flight dropped to the nearest ledge, and those that could hid under outcroppings and inside caves.

My spines bristled and my claws dug holes into the stones. All I could do was stand in a squared fighting stance, my spine arching and wings held straight out, my unmoving eyes trapped on the pit.

That dragon had just been killed.

No, they had been _murdered._

The Queen…the Queen loves us. Why would she kill one of us, especially such a young dragon who probably didn’t know better? Hell, I’d done worse than that and gotten off with nothing but a slap on the paw! I’d been told that sacrifices were only made when there was a low food supply for the Queen, but it was spring! How could she do that?!

My head pounding in unison with my heart, I slunk away with my belly and tail dragging and slid into a cave that was already full enough as it was.

“Shadow-Blender, are you alright?” A Flame-Skin said, wrapping his neck around my body to face me. I said nothing, and his eyelids lowered. “You must realize the Queen has her reasons.”

I looked at my feet. “Yeah.”

Nobody spoke. The nest looked and felt abandoned.

Then, _My children, you are perfectly safe. You may rise._

I wasn’t as convinced as the others, who poked their heads out of their hiding places and peeked down into the unmoving abyss. They began to pick their way out into the main platforms of the nest, murmuring to each other in worry. I remained right where I was, pressing my stomach against the floor of the cave and my side into the wall.

The clattering of small claws on stone echoed through the cave. A dragon poked his head around the mouth and then ran on over.

“There you are,” the Little-Biter breathed. “I was so scared I would be next! I followed your scent right away!” He climbed onto my back, burying himself into my scales. I hummed, never taking my eyes off of the others. They looked so vulnerable. A twinge of pain sparked through my head.

 _We have wasted much time in responding to the threat to our nest_ , the Queen announced. _Their aim is to desolate our home, our family. They believe us as nothing but lowly vermin and will treat us as such, with no honor or integrity. They must be driven away at all costs._ Dragons began jumping in the air, teeth bared. _You must keep them away from our island, lest we all succumb to their wrath._

“We will!” A dragon promised, and several more shouted their agreements. What seemed like half the nest took flight, swirling at the main exit at the top of the nest. I stood up on shaky legs and stepped out of my hiding spot. Allowing my eyes to draw down to where the Queen was one more time, I paused for just a second. Then, pushing my conflicting thoughts and emotions aside, I followed the rest out.

* * *

The Viking fleet was massive. It stretched on and on, the sails near the back forming what appeared to be a strange, single-toned cloud. In seconds I was thankful for the large amount of dragons that had left to defend the nest; what had felt like overkill then was now our only chance against the humans.

The first thing my gaze swung to was the insignia drawn on the sails. For some strange reason, I was both disappointed and relieved to see that it was neither of the symbols that had been etched onto the ships on _that_ island.

All of the dragons spread out, gripping onto pillars and allowing the fog to settle back around them. I landed on the tip of one, glancing back and forth. My search ended when I finally picked the Shadow-Blender out of the crowd. He was at its forefront, crouched low on the top of a pillar with his lower body hanging down it. His tail swished back and forth. I blinked once, and he was gone.

A blurred mirage, a high-pitched screech, and the first ship was hit with an explosion that sent it sinking into the unforgiving water.

Every dragon took off at once, bearing down on the intruders with all their might. I flung myself into the sky and charged my fire with magic, swinging around the side of the army and sending it into the lower port. The entire side of it exploded and the gaping maw sucked water in, forcing the Vikings to abandon ship unless they felt like sinking down below the waves with it.

Using the resulting confusion to my advantage, I built gas up in my throat and angled myself right over the next ship, aiming the next attack exactly where the previous one had been. I spat the fireball out, and in the same moment, the Little-Biter did the same. His fire was magically-charged to the point of being a pure-white spew of flame, which caught onto the mast and immediately sent it breaking away. The flaming piece of ship fell down onto one nearby, lighting it up as well.

“Nice!” I sent over my shoulder, ducking underneath a fire-coated Flame-Skin and around a group of Two-Walkers and Hum-Wings. The Vikings below were scrambling to get their weapons together, throwing basically anything they could get their hands on up into our masses. A few meters in front of me, a bola wrapped around a Hum-Wing and sent him plummeting into the ocean.

My heart dropped. There was no time to save him!

“Look out!” The Little-Biter warned. I rolled into a backwards loop with dizzying speed, and as I looked down at the ships and ocean below midway, a pod of arrows zipped through the exact spot that I had just been in. Had the Little-Biter not said anything or even noticed, I would have suffered the same fate as the Hum-Wing.

At the crest of the loop I flipped upright and pumped my wings once, sending myself right towards the ship that the arrows had originated from. The Vikings must have noticed me coming right for them; they all set their bows back and raised them, aiming them right at me!

The Little-Biter jumped onto my forehead, inhaled as deep as he could, and threw out a second pure-white flame. It was so bright it stung my eyes, so hot it began to burn at my scales! More importantly, it cut right through the arrows, turning them to charred sticks that bounced harmlessly off my scales, and continued right into the humans! I threw my third shot into the side of the ship, bringing it to wilt and sink below the waves.

Rising high above the Vikings’ range, I took a moment to consider my options. I had five shots left. The Little-Biter had two.

A huge, flaming ball took flight from the mass of Viking ships and slammed through the dragon flock. I threw my head back and groaned. “Catapults? _Catapults?_ They brought their _catapults?!_ ” I moaned to anyone willing to listen.

“…I guess?” The Little-Biter said, a tad confused. “What are we going to do now?”

Pursing my lips, I set my wings and tailfins into a glide and caught an updraft to take me towards the ships. They were well-armed, yes—but I only counted seven ships armed with the deadly weapons. That was about half of them, not including the ships that had already been so heavily damaged that they had sunk.

Two more catapults flew into my people, taking out at least six dragons who were unfortunate enough to clump together in the wrong place at the wrong time. I bared my teeth, a low growl rising from my chest.

Those catapults needed to be taken out _immediately._

“Can you take those ships down?” I asked, pointing down at the two that were adjacent to each other.

The Little-Biter hesitated. “Y-yeah!” He said. “You’ll come back for me, right?”

“Of course,” I said, trying to keep my voice warm and reassuring. “Alright, let’s go!”

Wrapping my wings around my body, I plummeted directly to the first ship. The Little-Biter began hissing, building up his magic-charged flame in preparation. Once we were above the deck I corkscrewed, allowing my friend to launch himself onto the ship without hesitation. I heard several screams, felt a burst of heat from behind, and then there were more screams. Hopefully that was a good thing.

Now to take out the rest of the catapults.

The Vikings aboard the first ship were occupied with fighting off a group that was already there. They didn’t see me coming, likely having expected me to attack from above the ship and not at its level. By the time one of them turned and saw me, I had already thrown a plasma blast right into the ship’s side! Banking hard to avoid slapping right into the rocking ship, I rose straight up, pulled my wings and legs in, and curled back down towards the second.

They responded by throwing bolas and daggers at me, howling fierce battle cries and murder in their eyes. I gave them an unimpressed look and just spun out of the way of the thrown weapons. Their comical, terrified expressions lasted for just a second. I sent a magically-powered fireball into the lower bow, and, ta-dah! Down goes the Vikings!

“Have fun swimming!” I shouted at them, even offering them a toothy grin. One of them seemed to interpret what I was saying and sent up a ‘Damn you, abomination!’. Well, _that’s_ a nice name to give a dragon you barely see, I guess. It could be worse; they could name Shadow-Blenders after the time of day or something.

The third catapult-bearing ship was trickier; they had a dragon captured! A Flame-Skin was trapped underneath a net, and so many Vikings were swarming her, she couldn’t concentrate on her fire!

Pulling straight into a dive, I yelled, “Hold on! I’m coming!”

“No!” The Flame-Skin cried, “They’ve got—!”

My third shot hit the center of the deck, sending an explosion that knocked every Viking away (and some overboard) and coursed through its framework. To my horror, it didn’t go through the bottom! That was not as important as saving the Flame-Skin, though!

I thumped onto what remained of the deck, making sure to keep my weight off of my hindleg, and got to work clawing and tearing away at the tight netting on the Flame-Skin’s upper body. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you out of here!” I told her, my vision blurring as I swung my head to and fro, ripping at the rope like a dog wringing its kill.

“Fly away!” The Flame-Skin commanded, shooting a glare at me. “They cannot have you! They know how to take away a dragon’s soul!”

_What?_

The answer to my unspoken question that I seriously _did not_ want came to me in the form of a Viking with a bucket sprinting around the hole I’d made and…splashing my face with water.

I actually stopped to give him an annoyed look. I mean…really? He was one of the few that managed to stay _on_ the flaming, hole-ridden ship, and the first thing he does is throw a bucket of water at my face. Snorting, I prepared to send a little spark at his chest—one that would take up about a third of my shot, but still knock him away; a handy trick I’d learned from the Shadow-Blender to conserve shots.

Except it didn’t work. Eyebrows drawing in, I tried to light my fire again. And again.

Realization dawned on me, and the Viking knew it. He chuckled and gloated, “Can’t light yer fire, eh?”

I just stood there with plate-sized eyes. They really _could_ take a dragon’s soul away!

Roaring, I jumped over the struggling Flame-Skin and headbutted the monster right in the chest. He was flung back and hit the side of the deck, missing toppling over by a margin. Leaping on him again, I sunk my teeth into his nasty chainmail, reared up on my hindlegs, and threw him over with all of my might! He swung his arms in a blur for a few seconds and hit the water with a loud _slap._ Satisfied, I spun and shredded at the Flame-Skin’s jail for a couple more seconds until she broke free.

“Thank you, Shadow-Blender!” She said, bumping foreheads with me. Glancing over at the flaming remains of the ship’s deck and the few Vikings who were either knocked out or staying the hell away from us, she said, “This one should be able to go down by itself. We need to move!”

We took off before any of the humans could get any bright ideas. Looking back down at the ship, I gasped, “Have they cursed us?”

The Flame-Skin shook her head, shooing away all the dread and fear that had settled in my heart. “No. But it does last some time. Be careful, Shadow-Blender!” She bade me farewell, and then banked away from all the ships.

I was calm for about two seconds before I realized just _what_ exactly had happened.

I didn’t have my fire.

How was I going to take out the other two ships?!

Looking over at the two ships the Little-Biter had been tasked with, which were both almost completely engulfed in fire, I knew I had to act fast. Without thinking any further I tucked my wings in and went straight for my next target. It shot off another fire-stone from its catapult, and directly after I slammed onto the deck! Giving the surprised Vikings no reaction time, I grabbed one and threw him into a group, smacked a second overboard with my tail, and then batted one with an axe away with a powerful, heavy slap.

Turning to the catapult, I allowed a brief moment to figure out how to disarm it. Rising on my hind legs, I poured magic into my upper body and threw myself down on the arm. The wood splintered and cracked. Grunting, I pushed at it one more time, breaking the entire thing in half! Thanking the Dragoness of the Moon that the catapult had not been loaded when I’d tried to break it, I wasted no time in getting the hell off the ship. The humans retaliated, some managing to nick me with several weapons and leaving my lower abdomen covered in scrapes. A small price to pay.

One ship was left. I tried to light a small bit of fire, but it would not come to me.

The catapult I was heading towards _was_ loaded, bending under the weight of the ammo it carried. My eyes widened for just a second. Pumping my wings as fast as I could and opening my magic reserves, I rocketed towards it, the world blurring around me.

I landed directly on the top of the stone. The wood moaned, the ropes shuddered, and the arm bent closer and closer to the deck. Unable to bear the combined weight of the stone, myself, and the ballistic speed I had crashed into it with, the arm split and cracked, shattering like glass!

There was no time for me to look around. I just flung myself right off the edge of the ship, opening my wings to catch the wind like sails. Now to get the Little-Biter.

I wove through what remained of the ships, only to pull up in shock at the sight of where I had dropped him off. One vessel was nowhere to be found, and all that remained of the other was a flaming post of wood sticking out of the water. The Little-Biter was bouncing on the top of it, staring down at the rising waves and flapping his wing wildly.

“Little-Biter!” I called, and was greeted with the most relieved look on a dragon I’d ever seen. Banking below him, I slowed down enough for him to jump on my back and then climbed in altitude, parallel with the smoke pillars.

I hovered once we were safely out of range. With the catapults dismantled, the Vikings had no real threat on us. They seemed to realize this; it was only a minute or two later when the ships turned around and sailed away at full speed!

The entire nest let loose victory roars. Half of the fleet had been destroyed, and one ship had even been lifted up and thrown between some pillars! They had come to us armed with their very best, and we had risen victorious!

The flock returned to the nest, and after a headcount it was discovered that only fifteen or so dragons had lost their lives. It turned out that while I was busy taking down ships, the other Shadow-Blender had been working nonstop to protect and free any dragon he’d seen, and he had saved countless lives. The Queen congratulated him on his excellent work and, to my great surprise, she offered the same commendations to the Little-Biter and me.

Afterwards, the Queen drew me aside and told me that she had seen and felt my grief over the Two-Head. She explained to me that the nest needed something to motivate us, to get us to clear our minds, or else we would have never been able to organize ourselves in time to fight the humans and win. Had she not done as she did, we would have left the nest with heavy hearts, and could have easily lost to them.

While I did not necessarily agree with her methods of inspiration, it made sense. The idea that I had feared her, been angry with her, even, was brushed off as a silly mistake.

We spent the night celebrating, reveling in the strength that the Queen gave us. We were safe. That was all that mattered.

* * *

For some reason, I had thought that it would get better if I tried to ignore it. If I worked hard enough, strained myself past my limits every day, if I occupied my mind at all times, then it would go away. Then everything could return to normal again.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the Viking that had attacked me. Every time, I gave myself an excruciating migraine trying to figure out _why_ he was so important. The answer evaded me each time, leaving me more and more frustrated. I _knew_ the answer. That was a fact. There had to be something that I had decided was unimportant and pushed off during the incident, and now it was pining for attention that I could not give it.

It didn’t help that I only remembered half of our battle. A clear image of the Little-Biter warning me of his presence was welded into my mind. Afterwards, though? Nothing. There was agony, most likely from whatever the Viking did to knock me out, and then waking up and getting my butt out of there. This only led to more confusion and headaches; that Viking _had_ me. They’re evil _things_ ; why would he have spared me, only to attack again once I regained consciousness? Was it shock getting in the way, or a warrior’s respect that keeps him from fighting an opponent that cannot defend himself?

That had not been the first time I had been forced to flee from an attacking human, even after the Queen allowed me to fight them. It _was_ the first time that I had been forced to pull back an entire flare because of a single Viking. Was that why I couldn’t forget about it?

 _Yes_ , was my initial thought. Except that I didn’t quite agree with it.

That Viking had done something to me. He had almost killed me with his damned sword, infecting me with _something_ that had forced me to pass out midair as if struck by a heavy blow. That disease of his had persisted ever since, wrestling my thoughts to focus on him at every given chance. He had planted a molding illness in my heart, rotting it out from the inside.

I needed to find out why.

So, on a warm, late-spring morning with the moon still shimmering beside the sunrise, I turned my attention to the southern isles.

* * *

The Little-Biter was fast asleep in his usual spot, a little cranny close to the edge of the pit. It was apparently warm and comfortable, but every time he sat down there I envisioned the edge crumbling away with him still on top of it. I’d decided to keep that to myself.

“Little-Biter,” I hissed, nudging him in the side.

He jolted awake right away, arching his back and bristling. “Huh?! What?” He squawked, trying to look in every direction possible. When he saw me he stopped, a sheepish grin forming on his muzzle. “Oh. Shadow-Blender?”

“I’m going to be gone for the rest of the day. I just thought I’d let you know,” I informed him, leaning down to his eye level.

The Little-Biter glanced up at the sky and then tilted his head. “But the sun’s barely up. You’re going to be gone _all_ day?” When I nodded, he clawed at the ground and said, “What if there’s a storm?”

Oh, gods, was this awkward. “I already went outside to check,” I said, shifting uncomfortably. The Little-Biter drooped, bringing the guilt trip to maximum strength. “I’ll try to bring something back for you to give to the Queen,” I rushed. “Here.” Struggling a bit, I forced myself to regurgitate up a disgusting, half-digested piece of fish from the night before. The Little-Biter looked ecstatic, but I couldn’t help but wrinkle my nose at it.

“Oh, thank you, Shadow-Blender!” The Little-Biter said. He butted his head against mine. “You are so kind to me. No other dragon would do what you do.”

My smile fell, but I forced it back up again. “Of course. But, uh, I have to get going. I’ll see you later,” I said with a small wave. The Little-Biter crept back into his hole with one last thank-you, leaving me the only dragon that was out and about.

I leaned over the ledge to look down into the bloodied, glowing fog below. Was the Queen staring back up at me, I wondered?

 _I’m sorry_ , I thought, _but I have to do this._

The center of my forehead pulsed as I opened my wings and dropped off the ledge, catching the thermal and drifting in circles higher and higher. It was only when I’d reached the mouth of the cave that I began flapping, casting anxious glances down into the nest to make sure that I was not heard.

Everything was quiet. Sighing, I put the sun on my left and inhaled deeply, drawing in the crisp morning air.

“Where are you going?”

“ _Oh goo_ oood morning, Shadow-Blender!” I all but squealed, desperately trying to recover from the unpleasant surprise. The Shadow-Blender was sitting with his tail wrapped around his paws, ears pricked and gazing up at me with a raised brow. Chuckling nervously, I tried to recover, “So, uh, what’re you…doing here?”

“I believe I asked that question first,” the Shadow-Blender said. He looked over at the sun and moon held parallel in the sky and hummed, “It’s early. What business do you have at this time of day?”

 _Why does he even care?_ I thought to myself. Instead, I dropped from my hover in front of him, wracking my head for a good enough excuse. “I’m, ah, I’m going hunting!” I settled on. “’Cause…you know…best way to start the day…”

“But the animals are still in their nests,” he said, his eyes squinting and one ear dropping a bit. “The fish won’t be swimming in any pods at this time, either. You won’t find anything, unless you…” He trailed off, and his ears stood straight up.

I slouched, trying to play it cool. “Well, not _all_ of them are asleep right now, and I could always just track their scent—“

“Why are you hunting on the humans’ islands?” The Shadow-Blender interrupted, getting to his feet. “During the day? Have you gone mad?”

“Little bit!” I joked, earning a slap to the face via tailfin.

The Shadow-Blender was not as amused. “You’ll only succeed in getting yourself killed, or worse, captured. You think that after all of those attempted invasions, the humans are going to run away from us?” He hissed the word ‘human’ as a vile curse. “They used to fear Shadow-Blenders and run away, but those times are behind us. If a human spots you, they will waste no time in splitting your throat open.”

I lowered my eyelids, my ears flattening ever-so-slightly. “That’s motivating.”

“Will you _please_ take this seriously” The Shadow-Blender reprimanded. “What you are planning right now? It’s exceptionally stupid. One of the worst ideas you’ve come up with. And you’ve done some pretty idiotic things.” He rolled his eyes and then pushed me towards the nest’s entrance with his wing. “Let’s stop this silliness and go back in.”

I drew away. “No! I want to go. The places I’m planning to go to, uh, have a lot of cover for me. I blend right in with the trees.” He opened his mouth to scold me again, and I raised my voice, “And also, they might have good food stores, and they won’t be expecting me at this time.”

That seemed to get the attention of my superior. He twisted his neck to look south. “There are many islands that have been largely untouched,” he considered. “But they are dangerous. I’ll assemble a flare.” Aaaand down into the nest he went.

“But I—! Ugh.” I ran a paw over my face, holding back a loud groan. So much for my secret mission. Falling onto my rump, I glared at nothing in particular, tail twitching and ears slanted.

The Shadow-Blender emerged with a four sleepy dragons in tow and a confident grin. “Alright! Let’s be off then!”

“This better be important,” a drowsy Flame-Skin slurred. The Shadow-Blender pretended not to hear, pulling himself into the air with a few flaps of his wing. Then we were off, the Shadow-Blender taking the lead.

It was hard not to be annoyed or snarky. I mean, it had been _my_ idea that I was planning on doing alone. What was done was done, though. If I had told the Shadow-Blender the truth, he’d probably had dragged me down to the Queen by my ear to talk some sense into me. Besides, if I was lucky enough, we might even come across one of the ships that had been at that island.

With that in mind, I faced our trip with high spirits, eager to finally put the mystery of the human at rest.

* * *

We visited two islands before the sun raised too high, making the Shadow-Blender nervous enough to retreat back to the nest.

The first island was simple. All of the Vikings were asleep, and their village was placed west of a mountain. That left the ground level pitch-black, even with the sun already rising. The Shadow-Blender had stayed above while the remaining five of us began scouting.

I knew right away that it was not my destination, but made no complaints. The pasture was relatively easy to find, and I picked off the smallest sheep I could, making sure to snap its neck before it could make any noise. Then I sort of…wandered around. Even though I was skittering around in a mad rush to find a shadow to hide in, it still felt almost natural to be walking through the streets. Plus, I needed the practice to make sure I never did get caught. It began to lose its charm after awhile, though, and I took a moment to rest.

Standing in a pine tree, I realized just _how_ difficult my quest was going to be. It’s not like I could knock on a door and say, “Hey, I’m trying to find a Viking who almost killed me! Mind pointing me in the right direction?”

To actually _find_ him, I’d need to narrow down which island he was native to. I knew the location of one island, and if the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon were with me, then that would be the place I was searching for. So at least I wasn’t grasping at straws.

Still, it certainly wasn’t going to be easy.

Eventually the Shadow-Blender called us back. The others had spent their time actually collecting food and so were carrying much heavier loads when we all met up, which earned me quite a few dirty looks. The Shadow-Blender gave me his famous grumpy frown and led us away.

The second island was _boring_. As punishment for not bringing back as much as the others, I was put on sentry duty while the Shadow-Blender went down to hunt for something. That meant that I had the joy of circling around and around and around with absolutely nothing to do.

Those were the worst two hours _ever._ I’m pretty sure I spaced out and started daydreaming halfway through it.

The others came back up, heavily loaded with livestock (and a deer, in a Flame-Skin’s case), and the Shadow-Blender decided that that was enough.

The flight back couldn’t have been slower. I spent the entirety of it planning, running every possible outcome over in my head. When I had ready to take off earlier, I had been unprepared and probably _would_ have gotten myself hurt. With all the time to think given to me, though, I was ready.

When we returned to the nest, I dropped my sheep into the pit, spun, and flew right back out of the nest, pushing my speed fast enough to dissuade any dragons from following. The salt air was stinging against my eyes and the sun uncomfortably hot.

It was going to be well worth it.

* * *

 

I approached the island low, the ocean spray reaching far over me and my shadow blurring against the waves. The bright sunlight was giving me a headache, forcing me to squint to see where I was flying.

The docks only held the ships with the green insignias, which I was more than thankful for. The last thing I needed was _more_ Vikings. As expected, the shipyard was packed with Vikings bustling in the early summer heat. I began to bank around the side of the island, keeping my eyes to them the entire time. It would be unlikely that I would be spotted flying so low, but better safe than sorry.

The backside of the island was hilly and held a forest with a waterfall right in the middle of it. The part of the foliage closest to where the humans lived was bare except for sliced-open tree trunks and the occasional bush. The outer edges of the village still told of our attack so long ago; a black ring could be seen stretching around its perimeter, and most of the buildings around it looked uninhabited.

I pulled my wings in and dropped down at the edge of the forest, staring across the slight incline at the village. I’d chosen the more rural area to explore first; hopefully, everyone would be too busy starting their day to notice me. With my belly against the ground, I held still as a mountain.

Then sprinted across the field of dead trees, focusing solely on keeping up the pace without tripping over something. I skidded to a halt at the side of a house and crept to its corner, peeking around it. The ground underfoot was charred, as was the house and most of the others in the immediate vicinity. The ash drifted away in a soft breeze, drawing approximately six sneezes out of me. With a moan, I went to rub my nose, only to stop when my paw came up completely blackened.

I blinked at it. With a grin on my face, I dropped to the ground and rolled for all I was worth, coating every inch of my body with ash! By the time I’d finished, I looked like a younger relative of the Shadow-Blender. If I was careful, I could blend right in with the ring and not be noticed by a single person.

Much more confident with my cover, I began my search. The area where my flare had started our attack was abandoned save for myself. I kept to the shadows of the buildings, only crossing the street when it was absolutely necessary. I now regretted knocking down the tower that had been in the center of the village; if I could have managed to get on top of it without being noticed, it would have been the perfect spot to observe the village and look for the Viking.

Nearly dragging myself through the ash, I inched my way closer and closer to the more crowded part of the village. The sounds of a market strengthened with each minute, and by the time I had reached the border of my cover, I could just make out what seemed to be a crowded market downhill. The humans were walking in and out of shops, chatting with each other, and doing other…human…stuff. I guess. None of them noticed the blackened bulge staring down at them.

Deciding that this was as good of a high spying position as I could get, I sat perfectly still and drilled my eyes down the street. Individual features such as eye color or nose shape was impossible to determine, but I knew that I would recognize the Viking in an instant.

So I waited.

And waited.

And waited until my muscles were cramping from holding so still and my head pulsing from straining my vision so much. The sun had reached its highest point and was just starting to round its way back down. The crowd had begun to thin out, which seemed safe enough to get closer.

Picking an out-of-the-way alley, I crept down into it, ears sticking straight up and steps measured. It was barely big enough to fit me—I wouldn’t be surprised if some Vikings couldn’t get through. It led straight to the marketplace, which was good because there was no street across from mine that someone could spot me from, but bad because people. I stopped just at the edge of the alley and began to poke my head out.

A Viking walked right past, almost kicking me in the snout!

My instincts screamed for me to scramble away, but I froze like a deer. Two humans sauntered right past me, talking about a recent fishing trip. They didn’t realize for a second that they’d almost tripped over the dreaded Shadow-Blender.

Taking in deep, even breaths, I came to the conclusion that this was a nice spot very quickly. The Vikings had no reason to look down a tiny space between two buildings, and my ash camouflage masked me as a shadow. Keeping those two comforts in mind, I began to watch again.

I was more than disappointed when I came up fruitless. I did hear quite a bit of gossip—apparently someone had been caught trying to steal a boat—and not much else. There was quite a lot of talk about dragons, and the words ‘night fury’ came up too often to be a coincidence. I had no idea what they meant, though, even though I knew they were important!

I was slumping, disheartened, and ready to just leave when the gods finally stopped hating me and threw me a bone.

Two men stopped in front of my hiding spot across the street, leaning close to each other to talk in whispers. I froze and leaned against the wall of the alley, training my eyes and ears on them.

“Sir, we’re runnin’ low on food resources,” the first man said, glancing over his shoulder at the market. “That dragon raid really did a number on our stores. An entire half of our supply, gone in one night.”

“You think I don’t know that?” The second growled. “It’s been hard tradin’ when almost every island has been havin’ these troubles. The only ones left out are the Hooligans.”

My ears perked at the name. The ever-present migraine sparked and I drew in a sharp breath, squeezing my eyes shut.

“What happened with the trading agreement, anyways?” The one who’d spoken first went on. I opened my eyes to see him giving the other a perplexed look. “Did somethin’ happen?”

The other human didn’t respond right away. “It’s…related to the rumors we’ve been hearing. About the boy.”

“You don’t really think that actually happened, do ya?”

Shrugging, he said, “It does explain why there was one night fury and then two. Apparently their Chief saw one during the attack and tried to kill it, but it managed to get away. He was distraught afterwards.”

“I would be too if I lost my chance to kill a night fury.”

“Enough to leave the island you were supposed to trade with?” The second challenged. “They barely said a word. They just up and left after they helped put the fires out.”

The other man didn’t seem to have an explanation. After a moment, he said, “Well, I’ll believe it when I see it.” He grabbed his friend’s arm and began walking back down the road. “Now, anyways, there’s something that…”

My head was going on overload trying to figure out what all of that meant.

Okay, seriously, what the hell is a night fury? Some kind of deadly storm? You can’t kill a storm! Why would it be a big deal if there were two? What do they have to do with dragons? Why do humans talk about them so much?!

_Think, Shadow-Blender, think! You’re smart!_

“Their Chief tried to kill it, but it got away,” I repeated to myself. My mind flew to that night, to the discussions I’d had with other dragons. As far as I knew, mine was the only serious battle that had taken place, and also the only one-on-one. The others had stuck to their groups of three and barely had any time to forage before I’d called the retreat; most of them didn’t encounter a human at all during the raid.

I had been the only one that had faced off with a human. Said human had been upset upon seeing me, so much so that I’d noticed it once I’d given any amount of time to actually _look_ at him. Their Chief—their _King_ —had tried to kill a “night fury” and was “distraught” at his failure.

There also used to only be one “night fury”.

I actually did groan out loud this time, letting my face smack into the dirt as a loose, hesitant puzzle clicked in my pounding head.

Damnit, I was on the wrong island!

* * *

Summer drifted in on steady wings, bringing with it bountiful food supplies and ever-increasing battles. The Vikings continued to pick around for the nest in armies, always leaving with a large portion of their ships sunken or damaged. In turn, raids became an almost daily activity _somewhere._ I participated in as many as I could, always in search of the ‘where’ and never finding it.

There were times where I would wake up, go to a raid, go back to the nest, sleep, and then repeat the cycle. There were other times where I was so tired I could barely move, lying still in the same spot and wasting an entire day away. At one point the Little-Biter had enough and forced me to go to a dragon well-learned in the healing arts, convinced that I had been cursed by a strange workaholic spell.

He…wasn’t _wrong_ , I guess. Although the cursing part was a smidge overdramatic.

 Now that I knew that the Viking could be on _any_ island, I was much less confident that I’d actually be able to find him. The dragon-marked sails were a fantastic lead, but they were the _only_ lead. It didn’t help that each and every time I set out alone in search of an island with those ships, I ended up working my thoughts so hard that I had to return to the nest because I couldn’t fly straight anymore. The few times I had come close to Viking fleets, they had never been the ones I was looking for. Maybe I _was_ cursed.

Cursed with bad luck!

Even the Shadow-Blender showed concern, pulling me over and telling me that he cared in his own special way. And by “telling me he cared”, I mean that he gave me a lecture on the limits of a dragon’s body and self-control and “stop trying to be in five places at once” and other unnecessary stuff like that.

It seemed like everyone wanted me to stop. I couldn’t, though! With each raid I went on I narrowed the list of possibilities down. With each successful scouting mission, I expanded my knowledge on humans and their ways, found out what could get a dragon noticed and what could conceal them, and further pinpointed the possibilities of where that human was.

I was _so_ close. I couldn’t stop now. If I did, when the solution was dangling right in front of my nose, then I would never be able to sleep a restful night again.

* * *

“So, the entire field is on fire, the yaks are stampeding over into the humans’ nests, I’ve got two human fledglings hanging off of my wing and the Two-Head is still stuck underneath a tree with the mountain lion…“

I was nudged in the rump. Hard. Waving whoever wanted to speak to me off with my wing, I leaned closer to the Two-Walker that was speaking. She was painting the single most interesting story I’d heard in my life. A huge crowd had formed around her, which only fuelled her passion in reiterating the most eventful raid that had happened _ever_ in the history of _dragonkind_. It was something that clearly had been organized by the Dragon of the Sun for a good laugh.

The obnoxious dragon didn’t seem to notice I was busy and swatted at me again. I sent a vengeful glare over my shoulder at the Two-Head that was behind me. In response he gave me a confused, hurt look at my sudden nastiness and then sulked off somewhere else in the crowd. I was poked again in the backside, and the greyed Little-Biter trying to get my attention gave me an extremely irritated look.

Uh…whoops.

“The Queen wishes to speak with you,” he informed me.

Ugh, _now?_ But the story was getting to the best part! I _had_ to know what happened to the deer that teamed up with a bunch of Little-Biters to chase off the mountain lions from its fawns! They _made it fly!_

The Little-Biter bit into my tail and yanked it back. “Are you going to keep Her Majesty waiting?”

I slumped over, giving a deep, long, _loud_ sigh. Dragging my feet and tail on the ground, I made my way away from the crowd with one hell of a sour expression, the Little-Biter leading the way. We reached the edge of the cliff and I gave the elderly dragon a respectful bow; it wasn’t _his_ fault the Queen wanted to see me, after all. Don’t kill the messenger and all that. He returned it with a little bow of his own and padded away.

I let myself lean over the edge and be overtaken by gravity, keeping my wings close as I dropped like dead weight through the clouds. To my surprise, the Queen was already above the magma bath and waiting. Her elderly eyes flicked over to me once I’d breached into her throne, an easy smile settling across her jaw.

 _My child_ , she greeted, raising herself further out of the cavern below.

“My Queen!” I returned, hovering at her nose and dipping my head. I was still unable to lean into a full bow without flipping over. Again.

 _I see you’ve mastered the art of bowing midair_ , the Queen teased, her lips stretching apart further. _Tell me, have you been well?_

The odd question drew me out of my embarrassment. “Uh, yeah?” I more asked than answered, cocking my head.

_That brings me much joy to hear, my child. And you are sleeping and eating well, I presume?_

“Yeah,” I repeated with a nod. “I’ve been able to hunt a lot.”

 _I have noticed_ , she agreed. _If you do not mind my asking, where have you been traveling to these past weeks?_ Her grin became mischievous, and she raised her brows and asked, _Have you found yourself a mate?_

Huh?! Cheeks burning hotter than the lava below, I stammered, “W-what?! No! I-I—“

The Queen chuckled. _Rest assured, Shadow-Blender, it was only a joke._

“Y-yeah,” I said, rubbing the side of my face with a paw. “No, uh, I didn’t…find a mate. I’ve just been going out a lot.”

 _Almost daily, I will add to your statement_ , my leader said. There was a hint of worry creeping into her voice. _Shadow-Blender, are you certain that you are not bringing yourself misfortune with this unnecessarily amaranthine work?_

Oh. _That’s_ why I was down here. “Of course not!” I proclaimed. “Like I said, I’m not starving myself. And I still bring back food for you, too!”

 _And my gratitude for such crosses no bounds_ , the Queen said. _But I am most concerned about your mental welfare. A dragon cannot overexert themselves as fiercely as you have and expect positive outcomes. They become ill in both body and mind._

“But I’m not sick,” I stated slowly, struggling to understand why she would suggest such a thing.

 _And I send my regards to the Dragoness of the Moon for that_ , the Queen said. _But I do not wish to watch your life spiral into one of suffering and obsession. Those who reach that loathsome state of being hardly free themselves from it, and it burdens my heart so to see them in such pain. Such a fate is an unspeakable one._ She leaned forward and carefully pushed her forehead to mine. _And it is a fate that you are flying with all your strength to._

“B-but…” I wanted to speak, to disagree with her. I wanted to tell her of the human who had only been accompanied with pain, of my reasons to try and find him to put my mind at rest.

And I realized that saying such would only confirm her suspicions, and not because that was what it looked like. It was because she was right.

The epiphany was so unpleasant, so unexpected, I lost my stability midair. My wings beat out of sync for a second and I dropped—only to have the Queen swing her muzzle underneath me and catch me on the bridge of her nose. There I sat, two halves of me battling a blood-washed war. I _needed_ to find that human. It was as simple as that. How could I, though, when the Queen told me what exactly would happen if I continued my fruitless search for him?

 _Shadow-Blender_ , the Queen said, and her voice flooded with sorrow. _I fear that even now, I have intervened too late. I expand my apologies to you—your kin addressed me of your predicament long ago, but I believed that you would succeed in snapping yourself out of it. It was a foolish, idealistic decree, and you have been dealt the blow for it._

Eyes widening, I gasped, “It’s not your fault!”

 _I am responsible for my children_ , the Queen said. _I slackened that responsibility for you. I have come to terms with my failure, and I must make amends to you._

I shook my head as one side of the battle gained an advantage. “But you didn’t fail. It was my fault that I got…so bad.”

The Queen observed me for a moment. _I am aware of your determination and stubbornness, little one. You are a dragon that does not except any outcome but victory. It is because of these admirable qualities that you and I did not see the signs until they became overbearing and dangerous. There is a simple remedy. I will not confine you to the nest’s radius—however, you shall only go on missions and raids that I allow you to._

The other half that had been losing ground found a new hope to fight back, drawing the battle to a standstill. I jumped to my feet, a protest on my lips.

 _Do not worry_ , the Queen amended, her eyes softening. _This will only be temporary. You must understand that to free yourself of your impediments, you must develop habits that counteract them. My guidance will gift you the knowledge of how to lead a healthy lifestyle in comparison to your current, self-harming actions. Once you learn the difference between the two and are no longer vulnerable to slipping into your previous ways, I will no longer have a say in your activities. Do you understand my reasoning and motivations?_

The warring groups disagreed, but I still nodded. “Yes,” I whispered, hanging my head. How could it come to this? How could I betray not only myself, but the Queen and the nest as well?

_Do not let this weigh on your heart, my Shadow-Blender. You do so without abandon. Remember that you are not the first dragon to face this—in fact, the other Shadow-Blender dealt with the same problem when he was younger. But that is a story for later._

I blinked at her in surprise, ears standing straight up. What, she was going to tell me something like _that_ and then go, “Oh, nevermind”?

The Queen had a knowing look settled on her face, and she said, _Are you able to fly on your own?_

Only then noticing that I had been _sitting on the Queen_ for the better portion of our conversation, I all but bolted into the air. My wingbeats were a bit unsteady, but I was able to keep to the air. “Uh, yeah! Heh. Sorry,” I said, cringing.

She shook her head with a loving smile. _Do not apologize, my child. You must know that there is nothing wrong with allowing another dragon to help you. Tomorrow you may participate in either a hunting party or a raid, but only one. Reserve the rest of today for gaining any strength that you have lost over the past weeks._

“Alright,” I said, holding back a sigh. I began to leave and then stopped. “Oh! My Queen?” She raised her head to me, and I said, “Thanks…for caring.”

_As always, my Shadow-Blender._

The nest was just the same as it had been when I’d gone down. I settled onto a vacant section and did nothing but watch the others, wondering how many dragons I had caused concern. Two had spoken up. How many had held their tongues?

Yet, despite the guilt it caused, that there was still that primitive, rooted impulse to find the human settled deep within me. I couldn’t just give up. The Queen had not explicitly stated I couldn’t search for him—but then again, she didn’t know about him.

My solution left me ridden with guilt, but also with a sense of righteousness. Even if the Queen discouraged it, if the Shadow-Blender forbade it, and the Little-Biter begged me to stop…this was a matter of the heart, something that could not be dropped with a simple “you’re sick”. I could follow the rules, become healthy, and still keep looking. I may now be limited in my freedom, but I would still continue the search.

I had to.

* * *

The next day was horrible; I’d not been accustomed to feeling as useless as I had been when I’d first come to the nest. The day after was even worse, as my self-pity shifted into anger—anger at myself, anger at the Queen, and anger at the Shadow-Blender for basically tattle-taling on me because he decided to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. The prospect that we used to be friends, closer than the Little-Biter and I, seemed alien to me. I was nothing but an object he had to control, something he only spent his attention on when _he_ decided to. I wanted to confront him, but every time I worked up the courage to do so I lost my nerve at the last second.

A week dragged by on crippled legs (surprisingly, crippled-er legs than mine). The summer storms tore through the nest, taking away entire days under an angry, blackened sky. An illness crept up from the wet, moldy interiors of the nest that were spared from the uninhabitable weather outside, and if it were not for the Queen’s interference, we all would have succumbed to it. Two of our nestmates died.

One week turned to two, and two to three. I graduated from one flare per day to two, my silent pursuit for those sails never leaving my mind. On the few days the Queen allowed me to go out by myself, I headed straight to the humans’ islands. I learned more than enough information on local affairs than _any_ dragon needed to know, but not much else. On the times I was lucky enough to overhear something about trade or inter-island politics, a headache would pulse beneath my forehead as I tried to collect all of the scrambled pieces into one set unit. There were some days where I was so deterred by the pain that I actually did what I said what I was going to do: leave to hunt and come right back.

I began to gain back weight I had apparently lost during my over-exceeding adventures. Each day I practiced my flight and fire skills, I felt what strength I had grow. My magic-enhancements lagged behind, but even with my struggles, I was able to sharpen them to lethal capabilities. As such, by the time that summer had begun to creep away, I had given up on expanding the different types of my magic abilities altogether.

* * *

 _My children, it will be on the eve of the next day that the Dragoness of the Moon and Dragon of the Sun will merge summer into fall_.

There was a little uptake as all the dragons of the nest discussed this amongst themselves. The Little-Biter leaned against my leg and said nothing while the small group around me chattered away.

I sighed, bowing my head and bracing myself. This was the beginning of a downtrodden climate that would spread throughout the nest and clutch tight until the cold seasons passed. After all, fall meant the loss of food and cold, right? While it did mean that mating season was near, which seemed to make many dragons excited, it also meant that death would be right around the corner at any given moment. I mean, last winter was when a sea dragon attacked the Shadow-Blender and me!

My heart ached with nostalgia just at the thought of the previous seasons. So much had happened in such a small amount of time, leaving me wondering where everything had gone. Hadn’t it been yesterday when a flare had spotted my prone, near-lifeless body on a deserted island and saved my life? Then, hours ago, I’d made my first kill, offering my true potential to the nest? Even the Queen’s revocation of my freedom felt like I’d just gone through it.

The Queen must have noticed the generally-unhappy mood that had latched onto everyone. _Do not taint these times, little ones_ , she reprimanded in the tone of a gentle mother, _for they have brought us as numerous wealth as we have earned in the warm seasons._ I raised my gaze to her, tipping my head at the proud smile that had been painted across her jaw. _It was a full turn of the seasons ago that the Shadow-Blenders rejoined our nest, and they have blessed our prosperity ever since._

My bottom hit the ground with a _thud_ , one paw lifted against my chest and ears standing straight up.

Uh, what?!

I mean—that’s flattering, but I’m not _that_ great, and I know it’s rude to say that the Shadow-Blender isn’t either, but, well…

 _It was also a full turn of the seasons ago that many of our family perished under the cruel hands of the human Vikings. To honor both those who fought so bravely for our kin, and the Shadow-Blenders who insured the survival of all of my children, I propose a day of celebration instead of the traditional day of mourning._ The Queen’s eyes flicked back and forth before settling on me, and she said, _Unless that is not what you desire?_

“A celebration is a wonderful way to welcome fall!” The blind, elderly Little-Biter who had helped me on my first raid answered, drawing the Queen’s attention over to her. She was sitting atop what was a pebble to most dragons but a mountain to her, a claw’s length from the edge of the pit. “But do not underestimate your impact on our survival, my Queen—it is you who has guarded and sheltered us since long before I hatched, and you did not falter in the slightest this past round.”

 _A strong trait of modesty is key to good leadership_ , the Queen brushed off. _I thank you for your kind words, little one._

“The pleasure is mine, big one!” The Little-Biter chirped, drawing gasps from basically every single dragon in the nest, myself included. Even as a joke, such disrespect towards the Queen was unheard of, no matter the age of the speaker!

I received my second slap to the face from the universe making a joke of me when the Queen threw her head back and laughed, drawing nervous chuckles from the rest of us. _Oh, that was quite humorous_ , she stated, shaking her head with a broad grin. _I believe that is a splendid way to end my address. We shall have our celebration starting tomorrow night. I request you refrain from offering to me any prey that is caught—instead, store it in the nest, and we shall feast on the birth of autumn._

The Queen paused to give us a last glance—one that was largely missed, as the entire nest erupted into an excited flurry—and withdrew down into her endless hole thing.

I sat right where I was, the Little-Biter’s squeals and his small weight settling onto my back distant afterthoughts. A group had surrounded me to offer congratulations, and all I could really do was give a stupid grin and nod as my heart swelled with a completely new and welcome emotion, and the world shook off the gloomy coating I’d wrapped around it and made itself right again.

* * *

At sunrise of the next day, I flew below to ask of the Queen complete freedom to hunt. If the nest were to have a feast, then everyone needed to be working above and beyond, right?

The Queen seemed hesitant at first—but then, miraculously, gave me permission!

It came at a price, though—while I had improved bounds with my new routine, the Queen was still worried I would slip into my old habits. She granted me full control for the next few days, donning them as a test to see if I could do as was required of me. I was so ecstatic, I rushed to tell her how much she wouldn’t have to worry and bolted out of pit, only realizing that I had not been dismissed until I heard the Queen give a little laugh and sink back into the lava.

Awkwardness aside, I was determined to show the Queen just how well this Shadow-Blender could follow the rules! And I wasn’t even going to try and bend them this time!

The Little-Biter was fast asleep in his spot when I tracked his scent down. I slammed to the ground and shook him so hard he became a green and red blur, shouting, “Wake up! Wake up!”

“ _Don’t eat me!_ ” He begged, squeezing himself into a little ball. When he realized that the Dragoness of the Moon wasn’t coming for him, he peeked out from under his remaining wing and frowned. “You’re going out already? But you can only go with two groups, right?”

I leaned down to his eye level. “Not anymore. I asked the Queen for full control, and she agreed. I can hunt all day now!” The Little-Biter narrowed his eyes and arched his neck, and with a roll of my eyes I amended, “I’m not actually _going_ to.”

“Good,” he said, taking advantage of my bent position and climbing aboard my head. Snuggling up between the two spines right behind my neck, he mumbled, “But…can you please not flip around when you fly again?”

I rolled my shoulders, drawing a yelp from the Little-Biter as he held one of my spines with all his might. “I’ll try not to.”

* * *

I went through the nest, drawing a few extra dragons from their sleep to ask them to come along with me. The majority of them were fine with it, but a few grumps just rolled over and told me to ask them when the Dragon of the Sun came up.

I led us out into the brisk, damp morning, the sky above dark and hints of orange streaking the eastern horizon. Taking us south—the direction I had flown the least in the past weeks—I angled us on a path that I knew held several chains of islands that were currently uninhabited by humans. There was one specific island I had in mind—one that could become very important to the nest, and yet had never been used for its full potential.

The sun was resting on the ocean by the time we reached it. The members of my flare, assuming that they were allowed to do a random sweep of the island, began to pull into dives towards our destination.

“Wait!” I commanded, bringing them to hovers. I swooped down and to the front of them again, spinning on a winglength to address them, “I’ve got a few jobs for you guys to do.”

“Jobs?” A Two-Walker repeated. “But we’re just hunting.”

“Yes!” I said. Smiling, I turned and pointed down at the island. It was heavily forested save for one feature—my target. “See that river that flows through it into that lake?” The others gave a variety of grunts. “See how it flows into the ocean?” Nods. “And how there are rapids near there?” More nodding.

Too excited to explain myself any longer, I shouted, “Then follow my lead!”

The river came up in a grayed blur, its choppy flow sleeker and more dangerous with each wingbeat that pulled me in. I stared deep into it, scanning its length for the flighty treasures it held. Lower than a pine’s height above it, I flung a high-powered fireball into the rushing waters.

Dozens of fish sprouted from the gray abyss, pulled out of the water from my fire and flung towards me by the current. All I had to do was stretch my jaw wide and catch as many into my gullet as I could, claiming at least a small meal for a dragon my size. The Little-Biter caught any fish that I couldn’t. My flare caught on and darted above the river, spreading out and mimicking my every action, never questioning. It seemed odd, now that I thought about it, that they just took my word for it. I tried to reason with myself why, but only succeeded in giving myself a headache.

To keep an eye on the rest of my nestmates, I pulled myself to the back of our line at the rapids of the river, shooting into the water every so often but wary of my shot limit. With the sun rising and fall setting in, it was inevitable for Vikings to try one more last-ditch attack. I had to keep at least three.

Any wildlife nearby—including two odd canines that stared and left within an eyeblink—fled from our perceived attack on their river. My fifth shot burst the surface in a flurry of pellets of water, each individual reflecting the sunrise and the light of my fire. A bountiful catch awaited me, and I was so surprised by the air suddenly _filling_ with food that I nearly forgot to catch them. I grappled with the struggle creatures and banked over to the riverside, hoping that the Little-Biter had gotten what I hadn’t and shaking my head to rid it of any wetness that was left. The Viking that had stolen my soul came to mind—I couldn’t help but shudder at the memory. But it only seemed that such a horrible impairment could come from being _completely_ soaked in water, not just spray from shooting fire into water.

The rest of my flare had not been so cautious as I had, using up all of their fire and resorting to fishing the old-fashioned way: scaring the fish with one dragon and having the rest come in and grab them in their disarray. The Little-Biter, eager to participate in something that he could do without flight, leaped off my head and sprinted away. I sat where I was and watched them, an odd nostalgia creeping up on me. An image of green eyes took place of reality.

As I set my far-off, lethargic gaze on my nestmates, scales painted the rustic red of dried blood in the light, it occurred to me just how…monotonous it was. We wake up, hunt or raid, go back to the nest, repeat. That was what kept us safe, though. What would we do without our organization, our routines that were dangerous enough as they already were? How would we survive without them?

 _It is not like our life is useless_ , I thought. _We have yet to abandon traditions, rituals, things that are dear to us._

The sunrise was warm on my back. I almost turned around to look at it, but I decided not to.

* * *

I almost missed them.

I had taken my flare away from the island, aiming to return to the nest in a little under an hour if we pushed ourselves. The sun had raised enough to chase the Dragoness of the Moon away, the sky shaded the color of a robin’s egg and the ocean below shimmering pastels as the light shooed away the darkness. We were flying high, and maybe that was why it took me so long to notice them. Maybe it was because I was so spaced out, lost in my own thoughts as the year-anniversary of my incorporation into the nest clamped down. Maybe it was just because I should have kept a better eye on our surroundings.

The Viking ships had returned to the seas. They were moving away from us and looked like toys sitting on a blue expanse, just barely close enough to make out the small details. I couldn’t see the insignia on their sails very well. But even reflected and blurred by distance and dim light, I knew.

They were the Viking ships that I had searched so long for. There they were, the ships with the sword-pierced dragon, the source of my mental illness, the reason that I had lost most of my freedom. The people who were led by the King that had tried to kill me. Without even thinking I rolled midair, my wings perpendicular to the ocean, and set us towards them.

A sharp _clang_ went through my forehead, stinging with a boiling heat that clawed its way into my thoughts. Hissing, I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, but the pain persisted.

 _No!_ I growled at it, _I_ have _to see where they’re going!_

Each wingbeat felt like I was trying to fly through tree sap, my legs barely able to press against my body and dragged down by a great burden. My tailfins shuddered, threatening to collapse. Squinting against the pain and heaviness, I bared my teeth and strained with all my might.

“Shadow-Blender?”

The Little-Biter was concerned—but then again, he was always was.

He tapped my forehead, his voice rattling. “Shadow-Blender? Why are you taking us towards them?”

“They are not moving towards the nest,” a dragon on my right piped up. “I suggest we leave them be.”

“Yes—we still have much to do before the celebration tonight,” another insisted. “It’s a waste of time, and it would be tragic of one of us were to be injured. Please, Shadow-Blender?”

I thought of how the other Shadow-Blender would have never tolerated such a challenge to his authority. “No,” I snapped, the pain fuelling my determination and anger with my nestmates, “I’m going to see them.”

“And then what?”

The question gave me pause, and the speaker went on, “Surely you wouldn’t want to lead our small flare into an outmatched battle? We do not have our fire. They outnumber us.”

The ships were drifting further away. They had shrunken to little, strange clouds on the edge of the ocean, the mark on their sails impossible to determine. They were so far away now.

I pulled up into a hover, my chest heavy with a sinking heart. They were gone, but they had been so close. I had let them slip right through my grasp. Now all I had was a direction that they were heading to—one that may or may not even show where their whereabouts were. Closing my eyes, I hung my head and cursed my inattentiveness. How could I have not noticed them before?!

Pulling away from them released the handicaps on my limbs, the stress headache fading. I should have felt comfort and safety, knowing they had not spotted us, that they would not hurt my nestmates. Instead my chest split under the weight of the frustration of my failure.

* * *

There was _so much_ food.

Really, where we managed to find this much so close to winter, I’ll have no idea. Of the Viking raids I went to, a significantly smaller load was brought back each time. Although that may have been because I was still angry with myself.

Anyways, the last thing I was expecting when I flew into the nest after an extremely late raid, with the moon sunken halfway to its bed below the blackened sea, was for food stocks to be _everywhere._ It turns out that my nestmates had no food storing experience whatsoever—so they just threw it in big piles and stared at it to make sure nobody snuck a piece…or maybe because they were hungry.

There were piles of meat everywhere, some even simmering under the heat, some so big that a few elders had taken it upon themselves to stand guard over them. One caught my eye as I pulled up into an uncertain hover upon entering and nodded once towards the pile he was guarding.

Twisting around other dragons just hanging around midair, I swooped over, emptied my gullet, and swung around to go find a place that I could actually sit on. Which might be a problem, considering that my raid was one of the last to go out and most of the nest was accumulated here…

“Watch out! There’s one of the—”

I twisted midair to face the source of the sound, giving myself just enough time to see a group of adolescents, likely only a few weeks older than fledglings, come barreling…towards…me?

“ _Aah!_ ” I yelled, ears straight up and arms held out, as the entire lot of them trampled right into me! The Hum-Wing leading their little flare smacked directly into my chest and just stopped flapping, leaving me with the burden of grabbing onto him to keep him falling into the lava. The others wanted in on the action as well, clipping against my sides and wings with shouts of dismay and surprise.

I managed to stay aloft throughout the entire stampede, clinging to the Hum-Wing that had seemed to come to terms with his imminent death. Frowning down at him, I set him down a little ways from the edge and then sat in front of him, where he continued lying right where he was with downcast eyes. His friends retired to similar positions, all of them straining as close to the earth as possible around him.

“Please, Shadow-Blender,” one of them said to the floor, “we were so excited for the celebration. Please forgive us.”

I was reminded of the encounter that I had had with the Shadow-Blender, where I had been in the same position.

“Don’t worry about it,” I sighed. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again. Someone could get hurt.”

Disbelief came from all directions—onlookers included. Shifting under the relentless staring, I cleared my throat and tried to sound more commanding, “So, uh, run along now!”

The mischievous posse scrambled away so fast they left behind nothing but little dust clouds kicked up by their claws. I fanned it away with a wing and, left with nothing else to do but feel uncomfortable under the reluctant gazes of my peers, padded off.

I managed to find a cave to curl up in, but not before hearing someone ask, “Why didn’t he punish them?”

* * *

“And to think I thought the spring celebration was festive,” the Shadow-Blender whispered, eyes so wide it looked like they would pop out any minute.

I could only sit next to him and stare out into the nest with an equally bewildered expression. “Yeah.”

There were so many dragons flocking, it appeared the population had doubled. There was so much food, the smell was overpowering. At any given time there were at least four songs being sung, with each group singing fighting to be heard over the other and those attempting to dance through the air having a tough time keeping up with the alternating rhythms. More than one eventually gave up and found another gathering to eat with.

Oh, and the Queen was just hanging out with all of us like it was no big deal.

She had her neck extended from below, her massive head effectively taking up a good portion of the center of the nest. She spoke with anyone who wished to and refused to eat, stating that she wanted to wait for her children to fill up before she indulged on anything.

The Shadow-Blender and I were placed directly underneath her, surrounded on all sides by dragons. As the guests of honor, apparently it was our duty to basically be like the Queen and sit on our temporary thrones, cast in her all-encompassing shadow. We had been given offerings of food basically every ten minutes or so, but strove to be like the Queen and gratuitously refused them.

My eye caught a burst of refracted emerald; the Little-Biter was surrounded not only by his fellow kin but many other dragons, having gained semi-celebrity status due to his close bond with me. He stood up on his hind legs, his single wing held out for balance and pawing wildly at the air as he retold some crazy story. For just a brief moment our eyes met, and I returned the beaming smile he sent to me.

This was…nice. I looked over at the Shadow-Blender and said, “You know, this is actually kinda fun.”

He paused for a moment, and then allowed a soft grin to melt onto his lips. “Yes,” he said, giving my shoulder an affectionate nudge. “Yes, it is.”

 Leaning into his side, I waited for him to continue. For the first time in ages, I felt something akin to…loss.

Even though we were not directly involved in the celebration, the hours flew by on swift wings. The Queen stooped to take from the remains of one of the food stores, granting us permission to join the others.

The Shadow-Blender went right. I went left, stopping to watch him go.

 _Do not linger on the past, Shadow-Blender_ , I scolded myself. With one final glance over my shoulder, I shook my head and lost myself in the crowd, my worries soon forgotten.

* * *

“I will be leading a flare south to search for food!”

Despite having made improvements in bounds when making such announcements, I still shrunk away at the whiplash turning of heads in my direction. By now, most dragons had realized that I preferred small groups, just like the Shadow-Blender.

But that also meant that fights would break out over who got to be in my party.

The Little-Biter reclined on my forehead, his tail hanging down my cheekbone, and twisted his neck to observe a Two-Walker and Hum-Wing go snout-to-snout over who would fill a spot in the reserved ranks. “Well, at least _you’re_ not doing the heartbreaking this time?”

An elderly Two-Head that I had allowed to sit at my direct right chuckled. “Ah, I remember that first time. That poor Two-Head.”

I ducked my head and groaned. “Well, that sure brightens my spirit.” The Two-Head merely laughed and wrapped a wing around my side in a brief hug before returning to his solider-esque stance.

“Oh, there goes another two,” the Little-Biter warned, drawing my attention to two young Flame-Skins locked in battle as they rolled past in a ball of fire and scales. “They seem too small to join, though.”

He was right, but I didn’t say anything. There was a kind of desperation in both of their eyes; I recognized the inherent need, the soul-crushing _necessity_ of wanting to prove oneself all too well. I would allow the winner to join. “They don’t look _too_ bad.”

“If you say so,” the Little-Biter murmured.

We waited a couple minutes for the not-so-metaphorical dust clouds to disperse, leaving behind only a few victors. The young Flame-Skin that had won was too out of breath to do anything, but all but fainted in ecstasy when I smiled and nodded at him. Opening my wings wide and standing to my full height, the attention of every member of my flare centered on me.

I cracked into the air, dove into the pit and opened my wings wide, rocketing towards the exit with my faithful flare on my tail. The sun was hanging bright in the sky despite it being already halfway down the horizon, and the moon was equally visible on the opposite end. I put myself between them, both of them parallel to each other on my sides.

“Where are we headed, Shadow-Blender?” Someone on my right called over the wind.

“We’re going to multiple islands, most of them deep in the south,” I stated. “A few even I haven’t gone to, but I know they’re there.”

“How?”

The question struck me, bringing forth a headache. “I’ve…heard of them,” I settled with, trying to take attention away from the subject. The last thing I needed was a migraine while going into unfamiliar territory. The answer was satisfactory enough to the flare, and we settled down into silence. I focused on scanning every detail of the environment, that horrible moment about a week ago with the Viking ships still fresh on my mind.

Even with my rapt attention, it was sheer luck that I saw them about an hour or so later. Especially since they were not supposed to be here.

“Is that…the Shadow-Blender’s flare?” I asked, squinting at the group. All but their leader flew with frantic wingbeats, some even uneven. Their formation was irregular and skewed, and from what I could see, the ones in the back actually seemed to be the more elderly dragons. Ears dropping, I gasped, “Something’s wrong.”

Pushing myself to my top speed with magic (and basically ditching my flare), I sped towards the Shadow-Blender and his disassembled flare. He, too, left his group to his second-in-command, meeting me halfway.

“Rogue dragons,” he explained, slightly out of breath. From up close, I could see cracked scales, bleeding claw marks, and darkened patches where someone had attempted to set him aflame. Thank the Dragoness of the Moon, his wings and tail seemed alright. “We tried to bring them back to the nest, we tried to explain that there were no other safe islands for rest!” His face twisted into a snarl, and he seethed, “But they wouldn’t listen! They called us puppets, they cursed our Queen!”

I gaped. “What?! But…”

“And on that,” the Shadow-Blender interrupted, spinning and pointing at his flare, “they attacked us when we refused to join them, claiming that they were our saviors! They…” his brows went low over his eyes, and he hung his head. “They extinguished the flames of some of the younger ones.”

My heart crumbled and dropped. “Dragon of the Sun,” I swore, looking out to the direction they had flown in—and his flare. The elders had taken position in the back to watch over the younger dragons, all of whom were bearing heavy wounds. “Did you have to run away from them?”

“It was a mandatory retreat,” the Shadow-Blender whispered. “It was what was right. I had to leave them behind, or they would’ve taken the rest of the young. I…” he looked up to me, agony rooted on his every feature. “I had to abandon them,” he breathed.

I glanced back over at his flare, which had now met up with us. They all looked like they’d just fought a war. “You did the right thing,” I said, even though I wanted to ask him how he could have possibly just _left_ them. “You guys should get back to the nest.”

The Shadow-Blender steeled himself. “No. I want to track those Prebirth-tainted monsters down.” Turning to the one at the front of his flare, he commanded, “Return to the nest. I’ll be back soon. And all of you,” he faced my flare, “follow me. We’re going to make them pay.”

The Shadow-Blender twisted and sped off in the direction he’d came, my flare following close behind. I hovered, at a loss. On one hand, I was really annoyed that he’d just taken my flare from me without even asking. On the other, he did have good reason to.

But there was one thing I had to do first.

“Little-Biter,” I said, gaining the attention of my quiet companion, “you have to go back with them.”

“What?!” He all but shrieked. “But I thought we were going together!”

His hurt tone almost broke my resolve, but I surged on, “All of these dragons are disorientated. The Queen will need someone in their right mind to explain what happened to her.” _And you could easily be killed by a rogue dragon._

He deflated, accepting defeat with a quiet sigh. “If you say so, Shadow-Blender.” The pressure on my forehead evaporated as he jumped quite a length away onto the hovering leader of the flare—who was visibly aggravated but did not dare scold the Shadow-Blender’s friend when said Shadow-Blender was still present.

Nodding to all of them, I said, “I hope you all take the day to rest. You really deserve it.”

This was taken as a command to leave, and with a rush of colors I was left alone in my spot. I turned back towards where the Shadow-Blender had left, taking note of his speed and how far away he was.

I flung after him, opening my reserves into my wings to shift everything into a blur. Managing to catch up with the flare in less than a minute, I fanned my wings out and took my position on the Shadow-Blender’s right. My head began to pound, probably from the sudden exertion, but I knew that it was the right thing to do to leave the Little-Biter behind and follow the Shadow-Blender alone. If only to avenge our lost and protect the rest of the nest.

We were angled a little closer to the sun on our journey, a direction I had never gone to. _This is further south than any flare has ever gone_ , I recalled, the thought bringing with it what felt like a slap to the face. We were so far out, the island itself was probably only another hour away. _Should I stop the Shadow-Blender?_

The words brought themselves to my lips. _You must tell him that a stronger flare is necessary, that there are more young in this flare than his. To give chase for mere revenge will do nothing but hurt our nest more. Make it clear to him that a counterattack will have been anticipated, and that this bloodhunt is in vain._

I almost spoke the reasoning that sprung from nowhere in my mind, the ones that made so much sense that it was almost impossible to think otherwise.

The further out we went, though, with the ocean a blur underneath at our high speeds, I began to doubt myself. The Shadow-Blender would not listen to me; he was too bent on revenge. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and his strong will would keep him from listening to reason. I could see it the permanent snarl curling his lips, the way he pumped his wings as if fleeing from a sea dragon, the unsheathed claws and bristling spines. I glanced over at the others, who looked significantly more uneasy and uncertain but stuck to it anyways.

I said nothing. And so our little flare, twelve dragons excluding the Shadow-Blender and I, held fast into the unknown. The clouds split apart like a crowd giving way to nobility and the wind filled our wings. Guided by the moon and sun, we raced further south, the headaches and hunger and worry brushed aside. The rest of the flare kept pace with the Shadow-Blender and I with remarkable aptitude; even the young Flame-Skin, placed last on the left, showed no outward signs of exhaustion. The thoughts to turn around became less persistent, easily brushed aside.

That was where our luck ended.

It took long enough for the heavenly bodies to shift out of sync for the Shadow-Blender to falter. They were noticeably far apart, they sky darkening, when he finally hung his head in defeat.

“I lost them,” he growled under his breath. “Those eels got away.”

We drifted in silence. The world had darkened, leaving us with a landscape swathed in blues and deep greens. The only breaks were the blue-white flame of the moon and what appeared to be, in no fashion that seemed possible, little balls of flame poking out from the shadow of an island.

My headache, which had dulled the further out we went, found some strength. I squinted through it, just barely seeing past the bright flames into their holders. They were carved to look like angry human gods, the fires held in their mouths. The statues hung on the edges of a small docking area, guarding the ships within.

“We should leave,” the Shadow-Blender grunted. I continued to strain my vision. I’d never seen this island before, but it felt so…important.

Pulling the pounding of my skull out of my thoughts, I stretched my neck to look for any clue, any reason why this place felt so much more significant than any other. I strained and strained, and was coming to the conclusion that I was just being stupid when I finally saw it.

The red dragon on the sails.

I had found my island.

_I had found my island!_

With a solid thrust of my wings I had broken formation, much to the shock and dismay of my nestmates. I dove towards the land, laughing at the sheer glee that my long journey had finally met its end! Even my migraine, which was doing its best to distract me, was nothing when I focused on ignoring it. I pulled my wings in and let myself fall, careless of the village below and its occupants.

The closer I went, the more danger I was putting myself in. The more I could see, the clearer my mind became.

Close enough to cast a shadow on the streets, I opened my wings and banked, launching myself into the pine forest bordering the village and sending a thick gust of wind down the narrow alleys. Opening all of my tailfins and sending my wings into a blur, I managed to not squash myself against a tree trunk and slow down enough to grab onto one, where I knew that no human would be able to distinguish me from the plant.

Peering out into the village, I saw torches alit, pedestrians milling about, last-minute jobs being taken care of and groups of friends walking to and from what appeared to be the Town Hall, the latter significantly more drunk. It looked like a normal Viking settlement. But it was so different.

I dropped from the tree and began trotting at an angle away from the village, ears pricked. There was something there, I knew it…how I did I was not sure, but…ah!

The border of the forest gave way to a lonely little road, sliding up and down an impressive array of hills. I stuck my head out a little further than was probably safe and glanced up at the sky. The moon was directly overhead, shining brighter than I remembered from earlier. A shadow darted across it, reminding me that I had not exactly been given permission to go on a solo spying mission.

_Go back to them…_

The thought was faint, weak. I frowned, wings unfurling—and then relaxed them back to my sides. I _would_ go back. But not this close to the village, where a Viking might see me take off. I would have to find a secluded area to do so, and since I was already walking around, I might as well take a looksee at what the Vikings had, right?

Taking a left would lead me into the village—a bad idea, since they probably wouldn’t believe me if I told them I was there for a friendly tea party. So to the right I went, keeping myself a few meters inside the forest and walking parallel to the road.

With each hill I crested, a pinprick of anxiety deep in my chest grew in strength, writhing and fighting for control. It demanded to be noticed, to force me to turn and run away from the lonely, secluded street. It dampened my spirits, the excitement of finally finding the place I had spent seasons looking for, but with a willpower I did not know I even possessed, I pushed it down. I would only allow it to take form in a small frown that crept onto my face the further down the road I went.

I reached the apex of one of the largest rises and glanced down it, a strange sense of foreboding overcoming me.

The angry Viking hoard I was half-expected did not appear. Instead, a shed as equally dismal and alone as the road itself was nestled in the shadow cast by the small mountain. The anxiety burst into a supernova of fear and horror and guilt, strengthening my migraine and forcing me to drop down, clutching my head and hissing to myself.

The pain intensified, and again I thought, _Go back to them._

With a whimper of defeat I brought my shaky legs in front of me, opening my wings and giving a couple of good flaps to help lift myself to my feet. Everything felt heavy—especially my head. I felt like I was drowning. My ears were roaring like thunder, my nose overflowing with the brisk scent of pines, my vision as dark as the wet soil shifting under my claws.

And all it took to snap me out of it was the sound of footsteps.

Fueled by fear of being caught and attacked in my weakened state, I forced it all away—the headache, the whispering voices, the heaviness of my limbs. Sinking as slow and deliberate as I could, I perked my ears and took a few wary sniffs of the air.

The scent of sweat, metal, and to my bafflement, _dragons_ , settled as a heavy musk in the air. The footsteps—bipedal, I noticed, from the silence between crunches—drew closer, and through the bushes I could just barely make out the form of a person. Whoever it was took no notice of me and walked right past, unaware of the scary-scary dragon watching them. When they were about halfway down the hill, I poked my head out to catch a glimpse of a stocky body, shaggy black hair, and a helmet with two curved horns.

I leaned too far and failed to notice. All it took was for my paw to slip on some wet leaves—and it was all over. I couldn’t hold back a startled yelp as my right paw slid, my entire upper body fell forward, and then the force of my hind legs and tail suddenly flinging into the air literally sent me rolling down! The Viking had about the same reaction as I did, and when I managed to stop myself out on the road having somehow burned out onto it, he was standing where I’d last seen him with the most baffled expression I had ever seen on a human.

I scrambled to my feet, grinning in embarrassment despite the danger. I knew that all Vikings were dangerous, but this one was unarmed and all by himself. I really had the upper hand. Judging by his clammy, pale skin and pinprick eyes, he knew it, too.

For the longest time we stared into each others’ eyes. He seemed frozen in fear and shock, and I…

…why wasn’t I flying away?

My mission had failed—he would just return to the village and alert everyone that a dragon was nearby. If I was on the ground when that happened, it was game over.

 _You could kill him_ , the far-away thoughts returned. _Kill him and nobody will know._

 _No_ , I returned, _I have to…I have to…_

The Viking finally snapped to his senses, his fingers brushing first against an empty sheath, and then clumsily gripping at another one attached to his belt. He drew a dagger that was barely the length of my claws and held out towards me, his arm unshaking even though the rest of his body seemed to be wracked by an earthquake. I regarded the weapon with a wary but unimpressed look, wondering if the stupid thing knew that I could _breathe fire._

“So you finally came back,” the Viking hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. I tipped my head to the side, and he snapped, “Don’t play stupid with me! Where’s the other night fury?! I bet you came back to screw everything up again!”

What? But we’d never been here before! What did he mean by ’again’?

I scanned my brain for any memory of what he was saying as the horrible, splitting migraine returned full-force. Narrowing my eyes and leaning forward, I again took in the scent of the human. Something at the very edge of my mind howled and fought for attention, but when I turned my sights on it, it was shrouded in a mist.

I recognized his smell. Not only was it familiar, but it bore a strong similarity to the Viking that I had met earlier, the one who had almost killed me and who had haunted my dreams. Taking a slow step to the human, I murmured, “Who are you?”

A great pressure crushed everything inside my skull, popping my ears and buckling my legs! I caught myself and backed away, shaking my head to try and dislodge the pain. The human lowered his weapon, mouth slightly open in something akin to horror.

Then he spoke again. “…Hiccup?”

 _“_ Hiccup! What _have I told you about going out in dragon raids?!”_

_“Hiccup is gone.”_

_“_ _Hiccup! You_ _’_ _re alive!_

—Wait—How?!—

 _“Hiccup, what is this_ thing? _”_

_“_ _Hiccup? What_ _’s wrong?”_

_“Hiccup! This is none of your fault!”_

_“_ _Run, Hiccup! Don_ _’t worry about me!”_

—No!—

_“There is no need to lie to me any further, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.”_

The world crumbled to pieces.

I threw myself backwards, smacking into the shed and splintering the wood. The headache pulsed and faded in irregular rhythms, and that word, that _name_ , fought off the shadow that was bringing it forth.

And it _hurt._

I gouged at my forehead with my claws and shrieked, the echo drowned out by the agony and confusion and fear and sudden, blunt understanding!

The dagger fell to the ground with a _thunk_ , drawing my eyes to Snotlout’s. Snotlout—oh, Snotlout! I had considered killing you! I had—I had—

“No,” I whispered, not wanting to believe it. No, I wasn’t—I _couldn’t_ be human! I was one of the nest! I was loved! I was part of an Us! _No!_

Oh, Dragon of the Sun! I couldn’t do this! I had to get away from that human!

I shrunk away from him and began clawing at the ground, leaving behind a message that was barely decipherable.

_I’m so sorry._

He barely had time to glance down at it, and I was gone. Pouring all of my magic into my legs, I became nothing but the wind, racing further and further away from Snotlout, the Vikings, the village. My throat was raw from the shock and each breath was raked in with a gasp, as though I were inhaling poison, and my head was exploding and my limbs were heavy and great Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon, this couldn’t be happening!

It couldn’t be real! It couldn’t be!

The moon shone directly above through a break in the trees, and the shadow that had been attempting to coat the rest of my mind was thrown back and tumbled away. I remembered a hole in a wall that I slept in, I remembered meeting someone—I remembered the Shadow-Blender, attacking me at some time and then speaking of legends at another. I remembered the last time I had run through this forest at such a speed, arrows following my every movement and an army giving chase and the Shadow-Blender screaming to run, to just keep going a little farther!

The ground below disappeared, and through my tears bursting forth from the horrible realization I finally saw that there was a cliff—one that I had just tumbled over. I tried to open my wings and stop the fall, but when I caught the wind it flung me down, crashing into a body of water!

I sunk in the depths of the lake, staring up at the moon above. In my mind’s eye, the Shadow-Blender was clawing his way down to me, desperation clear in his eyes, his crippled tail swinging behind him in the murky water. I saw him lying motionless on the ground, looking for all the world that he was dead no matter how much I begged him to wake up. He had always been there—always. I was alone this time.

The water gave as much resistance as tree sap in response to my moving through it, and my vision began to darken. I had spent too much time underwater. I had gone too low. I was going to drown like this, like this miserable confused wretch—

My head tore through the surface of the water and I scrambled onto the land, turning back to look into the cove’s lake. It was roiling and blackened, and yet there was an image in it as clear as though it were still. A human, a small one, with shaggy brown hair and pine-green eyes, stared up at me with the same terrified, disbelieving expression that I was wearing.

It was me.

The shadow of my mind found its strength again, banishing the reflection away. I whimpered as it poured all of its overwhelming strength into me, desperately trying to suppress…

…to control.

The shadow struggled to overcome my doubts. _Do not be mistaken_ , it hissed, _do not let a mere human fool you. Come back, where you will be safe and loved. Come back, child…_

On impulse, I opened my wings. My body swayed, teetering like a dead leaf clinging to a tree in a storm. I didn’t want to—I wanted to, but I knew I couldn’t, and that what I truly wanted was not what it offered!

It finally occurred to me that I could fight back.

“ ** _No!_** ” I screamed as I threw my head up and locking my eyes on the moon. “ ** _You! Are!_** _**Wrong!**_ ” The echo of the past gave me strength, and drawing not from the magic that I had been trained so long in, that I had never been able to master above the basic skills, I found the ball of energy at my forehead—the one the Queen had told me was dangerous. The one that I had been told to avoid using altogether “for my own good”.

My own magic—my mental magic—flung itself at the evil power, crashing against it and forcing it back. It became less and less hidden as I weeded it away, tearing it from the deepest of my thoughts and leaving nothing behind.

The “shadow” found itself just at the edge of my mind, its mask unveiled. It was…it was a magic just like mine. Corrupted, twisted, and broken—but magic just like mine.

With a merciless snarl I lunged upon it, ripping it apart, tearing it from the inside out! It cried out in dismay and sorrow one last time in a final plea for me to return to it—

—and it was gone.

I sunk to the ground, gasping for air and wiping away tears. A whole year…a whole year I had been…

 _No,_ I thought, for the first time it being solely my own. _No. I can’t meddle on that now._

I returned my eyes to the sky, where the Shadow-Blender—no, where _Toothless_ was. My screaming had caught the attention of the flare, as there were small forms of dragons hovering above. I could just barely make out Toothless, caught in a rapid dive towards me.

Swallowing, I brought myself to my feet, fully aware of the struggle that was to come.

“Don’t worry, Toothless,” I whispered to my friend as he descended, his face contorted in rage. “I’m going to save you.”


	14. Chapter 14

Toothless dove like a sparrow pierced by arrow mid-flight, wings limp against his body and legs clutched to his chest.

Beyond the terrible sound of the wind rushing at me, my heartbeat hammered in my ears. My muscles and head ached, I was still soaking wet from crash landing in the roiling lake of the cove, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Yet the only thing that seemed to matter was the rapid acceleration of my heart as my best friend shot towards me with teeth and claws bared, his intentions bringing to his face an expression that I had once feared with all my heart.

I leaned down on my legs and held my tail and wings out, counting the heartbeats. One, and he was close enough to make out the sound of wind whistling through his wings. Two, and his outraged snarl echoed throughout the cove.

Three, and he was upon me.

“ _Wait!_ ” I cried, as useless as it was.

I leaped out of the way just in time, forcing him into a rough landing that brought forth a huge dustcloud. The creature standing in front of me was not Toothless; he was too disappointed in his failed attempt on my life and he was overreacting for something that I knew from past experience would have only given me a fierce scolding. No… any semblance of him —and I _knew_ that there had to be _some_ —was swept away as that monster turned my best friend into a puppet, a tool of murder.

Just as she had done to me.

He didn’t even speak, instead hissing at me as if I were an eel and lurching at my neck. I skidded away with too much of a delay and gasped as the magic-sharpened claws tore through my shoulder like soaked paper. As irrational as his anger was making him, the Queen seemed to be making up for it in her total control of his body. His eyes bore desperation, cloaked in a foggy film, and without pausing to even catch his breath he leaped into the air and dropped, aiming to take me down with his greater weight.

I opened my own channels and jolted out of the way. The magic seemed to flow more freely, as if it were a stream that had been blocked but then had the dam removed. The wound on my shoulder stung a much higher intensity, drawing a pained yelp out of me and forcing me to halt my power in its tracks. Alright, time to only use magic in dire need.

Judging on how the puppet before me we using all of _his_ magic, I had a sinking feeling that I would be in “dire need” for most of this fight.

“Toothless! Please!” I shouted, crouching low with wings wide open. “Just listen to me!”

He paused for just a second before shaking his head in a blur. “ _Silence!_ ” He howled, flinging a _very_ unexpected plasma blast at my chest. I only had time to launch myself diagonally, pulling myself into a hover, and he again he shot a magic-aided fireball at me, the flames a brilliant white with power. I rolled with enough clearage to watch it skirt right past my chest and wing, smack into a wall of the cove with a tremendous roar, and send a rock-avalanche into the lake.

Okay, being above him definitely did _not_ give me the advantage I thought it would. “I’m not going to fight back!” I said, tucking my wings in and returning to the ground. Inching towards him, I begged, “Please, Toothless! You know this isn’t right! It’s me, Hiccup!”

The Shadow-Blender hissed, crouching low and tail swinging. There was no recognition, no acknowledgement of the name. I couldn’t understand; the same had done the trick for me! Why wasn’t it working?!

We paced around each other, forming a circle in the loose dirt below us. He was looking at me the way he would sneer down at humans in disgust. I’m sure I looked like I was about to have an anxiety attack. It would be only moments away before he struck out again, and judging by the accuracy of each assault, it would only be a matter of time before I got seriously hurt. A very teensy, itty-bitty matter of time.

“Toothless, please!” I tried again. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

He dropped his guard just to throw his head back and laugh at me.

…Wow, okay. Too caught up in my annoyance and surprise, I straightened my posture and lowered my eyelids at him. “Toothless, I’m seri— _aagh!_ ”

The charge was too swift to see, too powerful to avoid. He’d used the signature Shadow-Blender magic right when I’d least expected it. One second, there was a seriously pissed-off puppet in front of me, and the next, all four of my legs were pinned underneath him. The moon sat directly above him, casting his entire body save for his sickly-green irises in blackened shadow. A soft, remorseful chuckle escaped his lips and he leaned down close to me, eyes boring into mine. I couldn’t look away, even as his teeth sheathed, even as I saw the gas build up in his throat.

_Never let yourself get pinned. That’s what happens right before the bottom of your throat gets ripped out._

The memory from long ago sure was an ironic last thought, all things considering. Here we were, in the same exact positions…except this time, I was actually in danger of being killed in the way that I’d just brushed off as a nasty mental image before.

The only difference was that this time, I was a _lot_ more experienced.

“Toothless,” I said, “I’m _really_ sorry about this.”

He had just enough time to halt the gas flowing in his throat, tipping his head to the side. I opened the gates to my magic and let it flood through my entire upper body, hissing as my shoulder flared up again. I let it build and then released it, forcing it to give me the strength to rip my front paws from his grasp. In his surprise he let me lift myself off the ground, and that was all that I needed. I twisted enough to bring my uninjured shoulder level with his head and threw the elbow of my wing into his temple with a resolute _CRACK!_

While he was still stunned I grabbed his neck and threw him off of me, where he lay on the ground, eyes dazed. His head wasn’t bleeding—thank the Dragoness of the Moon—but the magic-powered blow to the head certainly wasn’t a gentle nudge.

“Huh…?” He mumbled, rubbing his head. He struggled to rise but fell halfway, swaying. “What…?”

My ears stood straight up and I _ran_ to him. “Toothless!” I called, leaning down to his eye level as he lay there. He turned away. “Come on, just look at me!”

He managed to get up this time, shaking his head and grimacing. I wasn’t even given a glance as he began to twist his head around, apparently surprised to find himself here. When I again said his name again, this time much more warily, he took far longer than was normal to turn to me. His eyes met mine, and they were clouded and confused and fearful.

I threw the link up, and watched in horror as the shadow that had molested my mind sprung up from the shadows at the end of it. It was like looking down a barely-lit path and seeing the blue-green glint of light in a beast’s eyes, dangerous and unknown. It snapped at the link with furious, desperate strikes, but I held fast! I pushed more energy into it, tearing the slimy leech away faster than it could recover. All I had to do was make it to the “other side”, and I could get rid of it forever!

The shadow suddenly withdrew, and his legs gave out right underneath him like I’d struck him. With no eye contact maintained anymore, the link crumbled like an old bridge. The impact jolted my body in its entirety, making every last scale buzz as if struck by lightning. I hissed and crouched low to the ground, squinting through the pain to see him stumbling away.

Alright, now I was just angry. Stomping my foot, I raised my wings high and shrieked, “ _Why_ won’t you let him go?! Why is it so horrible that you have to kill the only one who fights back?!”

The vessel gave me a wide-eyed look. I saw it in there—confusion as something within tried to figure out the meaning behind my words. Then he shuddered, turned his back to me, and launched into the air.

Teeth unsheathing, I took wing not a moment later. “Oh, no! You’re _not_ taking him away!” I snarled, gaining ground on him too fast for him to avoid. He had just looked over his shoulder when I grabbed the tip of his tail and wrapped my paws around his tailfins, forcing them shut!

Immediately his wings began hammering to try and make up for the loss, but we both knew that it was useless. With a roar he plummeted, taking me with him as we both smacked into the ground! Ears pinned back, I ducked my head and sprinted at him with all my speed, making contact with his chest just as he was getting to his feet and flinging him onto his back. Without wasting a second I was on top of him, pressing down on his upper arms with all my weight as he blinked rapidly and shook his head.

I looked down at him, and stared straight into the Queen. Closing my eyes, I leaned in and pressed our foreheads together, praying that it wouldn’t hurt him as much as it had for me.

“ _No…_ ” he said. I pushed my magic into his mind, a dim light in a world cast in blackness. “ _NO!_ ”

He tried to thrash out of my hold, but I wouldn’t let him! Head pounding, I let my magic become a beacon and ripped at the darkness, tearing it from the depths and shredding it apart. It at first fought back with an equal ferocity as it had previously, but I was prepared—and now, I had a whole lot more that I was fighting for. It didn’t matter how much it hurt, how it exhausted all of my reserves. It was crushed under my resolve! Its life was torn away, and it would _die!_

It changed tactics, springing forth onto the link that I had formed my magic and clawing its way up it, aiming to consume me once more! I all but turned every last bit of my energy around just to drag it back where it could be destroyed, dissipating it into nothingness once it got its vile claws off of our bond and sending what felt like hammer strikes upon my head. With nothing left to do it retreated deep into the center of my friend’s mind—where his core must reside.

I swept through the outskirts first, taking out any reinforcements, and then plunged my mental dagger right into its heart. The place it had thought would be the most well-defended only trapped it, and its puppet howled as its clutches stripped away.

“ _HOW COULD YOU?!”_ He screamed in agony, voice choked with despair. “ _YOU WERE LOVED! YOU WERE PROTECTED! YOU WERE ONE OF THE NEST!”_

A weak, new light began to emerge from the core as the shadow was torn away. It held still, then began to pulse like a rapid heartbeat.

“ _Please…my child…_ ”

With a final blow the shadow melted away and the screaming subsided. I let the link go immediately, stepping off of him and nearly toppling over from the slowly-subsiding migraine and sudden weakness that came with overuse of magic.

Toothless’ eyes flickered, the cataract-like fogginess fading away. Then, moaning, his head rolled to the side and his eyes slid shut.

I sat down next to him, pressed my head into his neck, and held back tears of relief.

* * *

Warmth.

It was the first sensation that came to me when I clawed my way out of the choking hold of unconsciousness. It was as if I’d spent an entire lifetime fighting through a blizzard only to come across a cavern full of flames, and I was experiencing the gift of the Dragon of the Sun for the first time. Was that how the first dragon discovered fire? There are too many legends that try to explain it.

Pain was second. Pain in my limbs, sore from overworking. Pain in my head, both inside and outside. The right side of my head felt as though a mountain had fallen on top of it. The headache within was…what was the right word for it? Agonizing? No. Excruciating? Close, but not quite. Mind-numbing? Ah, that sounds a lot more appropriate. My headache was not painful, but mind-numbing! There we go. How it could be one but not the other, I had no knowledge of why, but that was the simple, hard fact.

But… _why_ was it like that? The last thing I remember was shouting to my flare an order to wait while I dealt with…

…the other Shadow-Blender…

 _Something’s wrong with that_ , I thought through the muddled hush that was my mind. _Something important._

I tried to analyze the situation fully from where I was. We were not in the nest, judging by the absence of sound and stone beneath me. In fact, we were out in the open, if the wind was to have a say. Sunlight was not piercing through my eyelids, and leaves rustled from all directions. The warmth besides me was breathing, and—oh, of course, it must be the other Shadow-Blender. Some leftover feelings of betrayal came from before, although I wasn’t quite sure why I was upset with him. He _was_ extraordinarily reckless, though, so I’m sure he’d done something stupid again.

I remember…telling the others to wait. So that I could deal with him. Now he was beside me as I lie on the earth, and my flare was nowhere to be heard.

Had we been ambushed? Why were we alone? Something nagged at me, that loathsome feeling of knowing that you’ve forgotten something vital, but I had other things to worry about. I exhaled in a weak attempt at a moan and tried to look around, but I couldn’t seem to open my eyes.

The shadows before me were almost too strong to break. They wanted to keep me in darkness, but my supremely irritating headache and lack of information helped me fight it off. Still I struggled, and two bursts of light came to my aid to help me find the strength to lift my eyelids. It was like carrying a weight twice my size, and the pride that filled me soon after was more than a little embarrassing. Nevertheless, my eyes were now wide open, giving me a nice view of the cove that we were in.

Again I felt that familiarity. This time I concentrated on it as I swept my eyes from the walls to the trees to the lake. Eventually it became necessary to lift my head—a monumental effort considering the spikes it drove through my skull—and I managed to glance over at the Shadow-Blender.

He almost looked asleep. His head was pressed into the side of my neck, and from what I could see of his tightly-squeezed eyes, pinned ears and side-frills, and heavy frown, _something_ had upset him to a measurable extent.

Well, whatever it was, it wasn’t important anymore. I had a flare to find, and probably a scolding to prepare for him. We needed to get back to the Queen and report...

_“Stay out of sight. I need to deal with the Shadow-Blender. When we return home, we must tell the Queen that his mind has become infected, and that it was necessary to insure that he stays on this island to protect the nest. I’ll be back in a moment.”_

I blinked up at the moon several times, and then back to the Shadow-Blender. He didn’t even _smell_ sick. What had driven me to such a conclusion? I tore through my recent memories, faintly surprised at how easily they bore their fruits; memories had always been hard to dig through, sometimes even impossible. I remembered him diving into the island without permission and then take his sweet time wandering close to the human nest—ah, so _that_ was why I was annoyed. Then I’d lost sight of him in the forest, only to watch him reveal himself to a human and panic.

I vividly recalled deciding that he was “sick” at that moment. He’d reacted like any normal dragon, though. Even for such a puny, unworthy opponent, that Viking had been armed.

A creeping, lurking suspicion rose in my heart. I remembered something else, too. Something that I had forgotten for a long time. It was just like it had happened yesterday where I had taken flight in the nest, only to suddenly faint above the pit.

The Queen…she loved us. So why…why would she…

I squeezed my eyes shut. Then I whispered, “What a fool I’ve been.”

The dragon besides me lifted his head. “Huh?”

I sighed. “I can see now that we’ve all be deceived.” I raised my head. “I am sorry, Shadow-Blend—“

His eyes met mine. A connection, one only possible from magic, swept between us. In it everything washed away—the confusion, the disorientation, any doubts of if what I had discovered was true.

I sat up abruptly, unable to break away. There was pain and understanding and sorrow. Even so, there was happiness and excitement, relief and joy. The clashing of emotions would have been impossible to decipher if I wasn’t already wing-deep in it myself.

“Hiccup,” I said, as if needing to confirm that he was actually standing there in front of me, that I knew who he was. He gave me an uneasy smile, and that was the last thing I saw before I flung myself at him.

“Ah! Toothless!” Hiccup gasped, laughing despite himself as I rubbed my cheek against his and gave him a good lick. He pushed me off so that he could sit up and wrapped his paws around my neck, resting his head on my shoulder and holding tight. In an effort to shield him from the wind I lifted my wings around, even though it had calmed enough for the lake to still.

Oh, Dragon of the Sun! How could this have happened? _Why_ did this happen? Memories burst forth, long cloaked in shadow, and I grit my teeth and clutched him fiercely.

 “ _Hiccup_ ,” I choked. _I promised you that we would be safe._

Although it was only brief, that moment lasted an eternity.

* * *

Hiccup and I finally broke apart and blurted, “I’m sorry! What?”

My ears flattened and I narrowed my eyes, and my friend reflected me like a smooth lake. “It’s not your fault!” We both said with equal resolve.

We stared at each other for a second longer, and then Hiccup ducked his head and snorted. I sighed, hunching over a bit.

“Well, now that _that’s_ out of the way,” I mumbled to myself, and then brought my eyes to Hiccup’s. “What exactly did you _do?_ I remember all of the last seasons but they’re so…distant. Like I was merely watching myself act.” I squeezed my eyes shut and moaned, “I _attacked_ you. Oh, Hiccup—“

“I’m fine,” he interjected, butting his forehead against mine. I stared at the deep claw marks on his shoulder. “I knew it wasn’t you.” He gave me a fake smile that I’m sure a fish could see through and said, “I think that her hold on me wasn’t as strong as other dragons. When I saw Snotlout, everything just clicked, and I was able to fight her off with my magic.” He rubbed his head as he spoke, most likely experiencing the same headache as myself. “Once I managed to pin you, all I had to do was do that same thing.”

I nodded slowly. Hiccup did have very odd magic—even in the choking haze of the Queen’s control, I’d been able to identify that. “That makes sense. There has always been something different about your magic…perhaps that made you less vulnerable to her.”

Hiccup shrugged, and the conversation faded, leaving us to our own thoughts.

I grit my teeth, lips raising into a snarl. For a full turning of the seasons, that _eel_ had not only taken control of myself, but of Hiccup, too, and…oh, great Dragoness of the Moon, _Hiccup._ He’d been the organizer of so many victories for the nest, he’d been so bloodthirsty when given the chance to prove himself. On every raid we’d been on, _he_ had been the main source of Viking injury and death, while I had been more eager to find a good food source.

“Hiccup,” I said carefully, turning to face him. When his ears shot up, head tilted to the side, I stammered, “Are…are you alright?”

He gave me a blank look for less than a second, then turned away. “Y-Yeah,” he said. At the look I gave him, he sighed and whispered, “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“ _You_ were the one who told me that you can’t hold onto your emotions without them crushing you,” I pointed out as I trotted over to his side, lifting his chin with my tail to meet his eyes. Drooping, I said, “I…can see how it’s a lot harder on you than it would be for me. I’m sorry, Hiccup.”

He said nothing. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t about to let a repeat of last time happen. This time was different; _I_ had been put through it, too. To expect him to simply “get over it” with a conversation was ludicrous, but I knew that it would at least put him on the right path.

“Hiccup, you remember just as well as I do…”

Lowering his head, Hiccup said, “Please, Toothless. Let me have some time to think. I mean, we _just_ got out of it, and I just—I need a second.”

I glanced up the moon—a little lower than its highest point. We had plenty of time before the sun rose, but—

Wait, did I just see a dragon fly overhead?

I got to my feet, training my eyes on the sky. Yes, it was a dragon; I could see its shadow and the faint illumination given by the Dragoness of the Moon. In fact, I could see the entire flare overhead! How were they still here, though? Wouldn’t the Queen have tried to send them back to the nest, as she’d almost done to me?

My flare hovered above, hesitant to come down after witnessing what must have looked like nothing but insanity. Even I was unsure of whether to motion them over or not; was the Queen still in control of them? Or had the magic Hiccup used had a stronger effect than we had previously thought?

The dragons above made the decision for me. The third-in-command, an elder Hum-Wing that had been on Hiccup’s direct right, swooped down into the cove. The remaining members following her. I backed up to stand beside a very startled Hiccup as she _thumped_ onto the ground, taking notice of the slight milkiness of her eyes. As the others landed onto the grass, I could see that it was a characteristic that all of them bore.

 _Oh, Dragoness of the Moon, are they going to attack us?_ I realized. I widened my stance ever-so-slightly, attention trained on the Hum-Wing. If she did not attack, the others would follow her example.

“Shadow-Blenders, what’s taking so long?” She said. To me, she continued, “It seems as if you have taken care of the problem. We should return to the nest.”

“ _No!_ ” Hiccup commanded, making her eyes widen an ears stand up. “We can’t go back to the nest.”

“Did you find food?!” The very young Flame-Skin who had flown on the back left gasped, perking up at the opportunity.

The Hum-Wing answered for us. “No. But they did find a human.” She turned her clouded eyes onto Hiccup, the film becoming stronger by the second. “I saw that incident. You chose not to kill it, and now it has probably alerted its nest that we are on the island. Our mission to find the rogue dragons has failed. We _must_ return to the nest.” She took a step forward, unsheathed claws glinting and baring her teeth just enough to let them be seen. “Let us cast rankings of species aside. I am your elder. You will respect my orders.”

I stepped up to the challenge even as Hiccup tried to put a wing on my chest. “ _I_ led this flare,” I hissed, “and _you_ flew third. I very well have the right _not_ to. We aren’t in danger.”

“I saw the human, too!” A Two-Leg piped up. “The Shadow-Blender was right in front of him!” Fluttering to the front, he demanded of Hiccup, “Why didn’t you kill him?”

Hiccup shrunk away, pupils slim. “I—I—“

“The Shadow-Blender I know would have had no trouble doing it!” The Two-Leg accused. “You almost do it as sport! But you let that human know that we were here!” He rose over the ever-shrinking hybrid, wings opening wide. “You have endangered us all with your foolish actions!”

I let loose a long snarl, jumping in between the two. “Enough!” I snapped. Looking over my shoulder, I said, “Don’t listen to him—Hiccup?”

The group gasped at the use of a name, the elder squawking something about felony. I turned my back on them, keeping my wings open to block their view, and stepped carefully over to my trembling companion. Hiccup was staring into something far away, ears and frills pinned and shrunken against the ground. I spoke his name again, giving him a gentle nudge. I might as well have not been there.

Oh, gods, I take it all back. Let him think it over later! Not with an angry flare on our wings!

“I—“ Hiccup swallowed and sucked in a deep, ragged breath. He craned his neck up at me and breathed, “I killed people.”

“Yes, but—“ I began, but was largely ignored.

“I killed people,” Hiccup repeated. “I—I _hurt_ and _killed_ people. And I _liked_ it. I _loved_ it! I—I— _oh gods!_ ” He flew to his feet and stumbled away. Then he stood still as stone, swayed, and vomited. His body shook as if a great beast had taken him in its jaws and swung him round by his neck. When it was over he limped heaving towards the lake on stiff legs, crumpling at the shore and peering blankly into water.

My jaw worked up and down. Regaining my senses precious seconds too late, I was at his side at an instant. “Hiccup? Listen to me.” His ear twitched, but that was all. Placing a paw on the back of his neck, I soothed, “Come on, drink some water. There you go, good. Everything’s going to be alright, okay?” He made no efforts to acknowledge me, and I said, “Say it. Say that everything’s going to be alright.”

“Since when are you an optimist?” Hiccup said, almost too quiet to hear.

“Is he alright?” The elder shouted. I shushed her with a deep scowl, and the ignorant dragon still went on, “The Queen needs to be alerted of any severe illnesses. He needs medical attention as well. Look at his shoulder.”

Something unrecognizable crossed Hiccup’s face. “The Queen,” he growled. He stopped staring at his reflection and got to his feet, facing the group. “The Queen did this.” He stalked towards the others, unsheathed teeth and claws creating something almost sinister. His limp was so pronounced, he looked like he was bouncing up and down.

He was unrecognizable.

“ _She’s_ the one who made this happen. I thought…no…she was like a mother…” His head lowered, ears and frills flattened.

“Hiccup?” I said, eyes wide. More urgently, I caught up with him and whispered, “What are you doing? Hiccup!”

He didn’t take his eyes off of the confused dragons standing before him. “I’m fixing this.” He squared himself directly in front of them and closed his eyes, his entire face blackened with rage.

The flare members exchanged glances with their glossy eyes. The elder tipped her head, and a few of the younger members hissed and rubbed at their temples.

Then every damn one of them collapsed.

It was as if the ground itself had fallen away, they hit the soil so hard. I rushed to Hiccup’s side just before he suffered the same fate, where he leaned on my shoulder as dead weight. His eyes were scrunched, and he was biting into his jaw so firmly that blood was drawn. He groaned, and the dragons on the ground echoed his pain with shrieks and howls, clutching at their heads and writhing in the dirt.

“Hiccup! Stop!” I cried. “You’re hurting them!”

He ducked his head and shook, his entire body taking an invisible blow. His breathing sped up almost to hyperventilation, and I could _feel_ his body temperature rising to the deathly warmth of high fever. My heart froze solid at the infamous warning signs of severe magic drainage—just a brief step before lethal forever-sleep.

I all but screamed, “ _STOP RIGHT NOW!_ ”                                                 

The entire cove seemed to follow my command. The wind stopped blowing, the surrounding forest hushed, and—thank the Dragon of the Sun—the shrieking stopped. Hiccup slid to the ground where he raked in air, and the flare lied where they were in various states of consciousness.

I nudged at Hiccup frantically, almost dropping next to him in relief when he opened his eyes.  My own must have been deceiving me, because his pupils looked _circular_ instead of slit as they properly should be.

Still, I couldn’t control myself and lectured, “Hiccup, you idiot! You almost killed yourself! Have I _not_ told you about forever-sleep?! I _know_ that you know what it is!”

A weak smile cracked across his lips. “Totally worth it,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“What?” I looked over at the others. All of them were out cold, but the elder seemed to be coming to.

Hiccup’s eyes slid shut. “I saved them,” he murmured, the wind catching on his voice. His limbs went limp and his breathing evened out.

I swung back towards the flare, locking gazes with the elder.

Her eyes no longer held the clouds that had obscured them, and in their place was a look of horror that sent adrenaline bursting through my blood.

* * *

The induced unconsciousness only lasted for a few minutes, as it had for me. The fact that Hiccup was the last to wake did nothing to help my stress.

Similar to myself, all of the dragons awoke still “under” the spell after thinking in its strict confines for so long. Most notable was the young Flame-Skin that Hiccup had foolishly let into his flare, who was the first after the elder to realize what had happened to him. I hypothesized that his age was key to this, seeing as he had been under that eel’s control for only a little longer than myself and Hiccup, but it was still jarring to see him come out of it before the second-most powerful dragon down from the elder. That dragon, a Two-Head, made a _huge_ effort to show just how much his pride _wasn’t_ hurt from that.

Then we all basically sat there and mumbled obscure phrases about what we were feeling. I was eager to get us all moving because:

One, ‘Snotlout’ saw and recognized Hiccup and knew where the cove was.

Two, that meant _I_ had to think about what had happened as well.

Before I had been too busy pushing the focus on Hiccup. Now, though…

Hiccup was agonized by this past year—I would even go as far as to say traumatized. I, on the other wing, was nothing but outraged. The _cowardly demon_ didn’t even have the courage to force us into submission. No—instead she applied foreign magic on us and erased who we were so that it would be easier on her. She used that magic to control a dragon’s soul, to make them her loving servant so that she could feel important. Every word from her was a manipulation, every appearance an act to further the lie that the nest was the _one and only_ home for us.

Even _that_ was still secondary to the worst part. That monstrosity had done something far worse: she had all but erased Hiccup and mine’s friendship. I _knew_ that we had been close, only for invasive thoughts to suddenly appear and dissuade me from contacting him further. The Queen had been remarkably subtle. Then again, I suppose after decades of ruining lives, she could do it in exactly the way she wanted without ever being suspect.

The simple fact was: she knew Hiccup and I were a threat, that our bond was something she couldn’t hope to gain control over. So she broke it.

That was unforgiveable.

We had to kill her. And when we did, I would personally ensure that she suffered.

The others reacted more or less as I did, disgusted by the way the Queen had used them as tools to her own desires and desperate to make it right. Which led to one of the younger members, a Two-Walker, taking off and declaring on the spot that she was going back to the nest.

“ _No!_ ” Hiccup, the elder, and I all shouted at once.

The elder looked over at us and bowed deep in respect. “Allow me,” she said. She rose to a hover to address every dragon, making sure to lock eyes with each of them before stating, “We must be tactful, young ones. The Queen has used magic that can not only control us, but supervise us. She may have lost her grip on us, but she knows where we last were and what has happened to us. She will be expecting our return, and we cannot fight the entire nest.” To Hiccup, she went on, “You are the one whose magic has been different, and only you were capable of breaking the curse. If I may ask, are you the human who was morphed?”

Hiccup and I shared a glance. For the most part, he did a good job at hiding his surprise, but it was still obvious.

“Yeah, I am,” Hiccup said.

There was a small uptake, but the elder remained calm and nodded once. “I see. I believe you would be the most knowledgeable on how to approach this, then. Forgive me if I am putting too large of a burden on you.”

“He won’t have to carry it alone,” I said, raising my head high. “All of us will. Hicc—the Shadow-Blender is the only one who has the power to free us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all fight back, too.”

“We’ll need more help than the fourteen of us,” another Hum-Wing pointed out. “Our tiny group up against the nest _and_ the Queen, if we fight enough to force her to act. Those odds are not ones I want to put my life on.”

“Hey, no pressure,” Hiccup mumbled.

The young Flame-Skin stepped forward and bowed low. “How’re we going to beat her, Shadow-Blenders?”

Again Hiccup and I exchanged a look. The link burst to life, carrying over from Hiccup some semblance of an idea that might as well get us killed. The basis was crazy…but then again, crazy was his thing. I felt pieces click together in my head, like some sort of puzzle, and “sent” them back over to him.

I thought back to when I used to think of him as worthless, stupid, and incapable of being nothing but a vile human. Once we’d actually gotten to know each other, though…it was like flipping the world upside-down.

Hiccup caught on and smiled, nodding once. I turned to the others.

“I think it’s time to make amends,” I said.

* * *

“I changed my mind. This plan is terrible.”

“This was _your_ idea, Toothless.”

“No it wasn’t! It was yours.”

“I’m pretty sure it was yours. Anyways, most of our plans work out well, so…” Hiccup’s shoulder caught the moonlight, showcasing a wicked scar grazing over it. The elder Hum-Wing had been kind enough to deplete her own magic to heal it, thank gods. It still looked awful, and it took considerable effort to keep from staring.

I rolled my eyes. “I see being under control for a full turn of the seasons has done nothing to keep the crazy away.”

“I see several dozens of years of being under control doesn’t keep the pessimistic away,” Hiccup said distractedly, peeking around a tree before stalking out into an open field breaching the forest.

Wait, what? I gave up being sneaky and bounded up to him, certain he’d done his math wrong. I had a faint idea of what a ‘year’ was, and the amount he’d just said _definitely_ didn’t match up with what had happened. Maybe he hit his head really hard. But I was fairly certain he was good at math. I think. “What do you mean, ‘several dozens’?”

Hiccup stopped short, eyes widening, and gave me his “oops” look. “Because…you don’t know?” He whispered.

“Don’t know what?” A cold stone began to crystalize on my heart. I found myself wishing that I hadn’t spoken up.

My friend straightened out, checking our surroundings once before sitting down. “Toothless,” he said, “this might come as a shock to you, but I want you to know right now that it doesn’t have anything to do with us. Okay?” I nodded for him to go on. “Alright…well…” He took a deep breath and burst, “The Queen told me you were under control the entire time she’s been at the nest.”

I raised an eyebrow. Well, that made zero sense. Must’ve been one big blow to the head. “No I wasn’t. I acted on my own will the entire time.”

Hiccup’s ears drooped. “I know, and that’s why it doesn’t mean anything. But…she did say she'd always had a handle on you. She said she let you stay less under control because she needed someone smart enough to take care of dragons in raids. And they were getting pretty big before we came back to the nest, too, and you know how many dragons want to stay go in your raids.”

“No,” I said. “That’s impossible. If I were cursed by her then, then I wouldn’t have hated her so much. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about her.”

He wasn’t convinced. “That doesn’t explain why you kept on wanting to go back to the nest the second we could get off Berk.”

“We needed—“

“—help, I know,” Hiccup interrupted. “But you even tried to keep me from thinking about fighting her, even if you changed your mind later. But right after that you got really sick, and I’m pretty sure that she had a part in that if she always gave me migraines.”

I was silent, but still shook my head. No, that was ludicrous. No matter what Hiccup said, that would make our friendship…false. Something that was forced and not formed.

“I know it hurts,” Hiccup said, grabbing my paw, “but I just thought you should know—“

I jerked away. “No! No. That’s preposterous, Hiccup.” I looked up at the moon to see that it was cast in clouds, shielded from our eyes. “Come on, we’re losing moonlight. If the sun rises before we finish this, it’s all over.”

Hiccup trotted after me, fixing me with _the_ look. “A dragon once told me that holding all your emotions in will only hurt you.”

“Wise dragons can be hypocrites,” I stated. “Besides, there’s no emotions to hold in because it’s clearly a lie to break you down.”

Of course that’s what it was. There was no way that…no, Hiccup was just misinformed.

Sighing, he said, “Alright. But this isn’t the last of this!”

I knew he was right, but didn’t want to—no, _refused_ —to think about it.

On that, we melted into the forest once more and crept away. The edge was close enough to halt all conversation, leaving us with nothing to listen to but our own footsteps. Luckily, the others had opted to wait in the cove, which meant that our approach would be all but unnoticed. A group of fourteen dragons clustered together would have been _very_ easy to spot, sun down or not.

We breached the edge, looking out onto the empty pathway illuminated by the moon. A little ways down was the little storage construction that Hiccup used to frequent.

Remembering all too well his past with it, I whispered, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Hiccup nodded. “That’s the whole point,” he whispered back. “That hill up there gives a perfect view of the bottom. And having everything here means that we can make a bad place a good place.”

I honestly didn’t think that the symbolism would be noticed. Most Vikings are… _dense._ Still, I nodded and stepped out into the open, standing up on my hind legs and perking my ears. Hiccup jogged out to the center of the large hill’s base and looked down at the dirt a few winglengths away from the human-built nest. With a sigh, he swept his tail on the ground, shooting up a cloud of dirt, and then got to work.

I was so focused on the direction _towards_ his old nest that it took me a few seconds to hear the approach from the other side. I dropped down and hissed, “Hiccup! Get back here!”

“I need more time!”

“I don’t care! There are Vikings approaching!” I glanced up at the opposite hill hurriedly, the sound of pounding feet growing too loud far too fast. “Now! Or I’ll get you out of there myself!”

Hiccup stared desperately at his handiwork. “But…”

Cursing the gods for making him so boneheaded, I rushed out of the cover of the forest. Grabbing his scruff before he could move out of the way, I gave him a good push back towards the forest and placed myself behind him to make sure he actually did as he was told.

He didn’t. Instead, he looked up at the source of the sound and froze like a deer spotting a dragon. I unsheathed my teeth and claws, lowered myself into a battle stance, and braced myself for the horde of humans that was sure to be on the crest of the hill.

There were only two. Two humans that I knew.

‘Astrid’ and ‘Snotlout’ stood on the hill, heavy weapons grasped in their paws. They had mixtures of shock and anger on their faces, each one staring down at us like we were the most unpleasant surprise they could have imagined.

“That’s it. We have to try something else,” I said, giving Hiccup a push towards the forest.

“This is the best way to explain everything without anyone getting hurt!” He gasped, pointing at the clawmarks he’d made on the ground. “Just wait, okay? I think I can fix this.” He spun and trotted back over to his incomplete work, patting the ground for emphasis and then pointing at it was a paw. I stayed low, moving limb by limb over to Hiccup, wings held high and head low to the ground. Not once did they waver from my sight.

‘Astrid’ didn’t so much as glance at the message. She let loose a howl and charged down the hill, prompting ‘Snotlout’ to run after her. I snarled, raising my wings higher and tightening my muscles, waiting for the moment the damn thing got into my striking range.

“I’ll take her! You handle the other one!” I shouted. The human was halfway down the hill now. Any moment, and I would finally redeem myself from that unfinished battle so long ago.

There was a thunk next to me. I broke my deadlock on the Viking and jolted as if an eel had flopped right in front of me.

Hiccup rolled over onto his back like he was taking a casual sunbath, stretching his neck to expose every vein. He locked his solemn eyes on ‘Astrid’.

The two Vikings skidded to a stop a stride away from the markings he’d made in the ground. ‘Astrid’ narrowed her eyes, while ‘Snotlout’ actually used his brain and looked down at the unspoken language before him. His eyebrows scrunched together as his eyes rapidly flew back and forth, and he raised his weapon up at Hiccup.

“What are you playing at?” ‘Snotlout’ growled, stepping right on top of Hiccup’s hard work. I gave a deep snarl, prompting him to take his foot off of the markings.

‘Astrid’ must have taken a moment to look at the message, too. “You can’t seriously expect us to believe this. It’s too convenient.” She flicked the fur on her head back and said, “We all know you’re just trying to get us to trust you before you strike, you monster.”

Hiccup stayed perfectly still. His stern gaze never left his two ‘friends’.

‘Astrid’ stepped forward, ignoring my warning hiss, but was stopped by ‘Snotlout’ raising his arm. He trampled right over the message, kicking it away, and got so close to my best friend that he could have kicked him in the nose. I arched my back and bared all of my teeth, roaring for all I was worth!

Hiccup’s wing sprung out and smacked me right in the face. His eyes never left those of his relative. ‘Snotlout’ placed his weapon on Hiccup’s neck, putting enough pressure on it to dent his scales.

And Hiccup, still holding me back with his wing, closed his eyes. For a second, despair crossed through his features.

‘Snotlout’ tilted his head just far enough to glance over his shoulder at ‘Astrid’, whose axe was held directly at me. She couldn’t seem to decide on being furious or doubtful. He took a deep breath and asked in a tired, wary voice, “Hiccup?”

Hiccup opened his eyes, a warm smile creeping onto his face. He nodded once.

“Impossible,” ‘Astrid’ said, crouching low. “Get it together, Snotlout. You know what he’s done. This has to be a lie.”

Like hell it was! I hissed at her, loosening my stance to raise my head. With her full attention on me, I shook my head in the most deliberate way possible: nice and slow.

The two humans both gasped and recoiled as if I were a venomous snake.

Smirking at their flabbergasted reactions, I ducked my head and put my _own_ skills to use, drawing a slightly-okayish picture of the stone forest in the dirt. Besides it, I added a crude representation of the volcano that we lived in, although it looked more like a steep curve than anything else. To expect them to identify a picture of the Queen was idiotic, but the iconic stone forest was just as recognizable to the Vikings as it was to the dragons it protected.

‘Astrid’ and ‘Snotlout’ clearly had no idea how to respond to the dreaded Shadow-Blender making a picture for them. The weapon’s grip on Hiccup loosened, and the axe lowered ever-so-slightly. I held my nose high, a proud smile on my lip, and looked to Hiccup.

He looked just as confused as them. What, was it not good enough? I was great at this, considering it was only my second time doing it…right?

‘Astrid’ gasped. “The nest,” she said. Turning to Hiccup, she demanded, “So you know how to get to it?”

Again he nodded, allowing the sharp _thing_ to dig deeper into his neck.

“Why would you show it to us?” ‘Snotlout’ said, glancing over at me and then back to Hiccup. His kin looked pointedly at what was left of his message, drawing a frown from him. “I mean…that’s totally insane. You keep ships from getting even halfway through that for a year and now you want take us there?”

Hiccup jerked his head to the side, bringing his paws up and twisting his shoulders to the side. ‘Snotlout’ paused before lifting his weapon to his side, much to his companion’s displeasure. ‘Astrid’ hissed a word I didn’t recognize and tightened her stance, determined to stay as threatening as possible, while Hiccup carefully rolled to his feet.

He was a little taller than ‘Snotlout’ at his normal height, but still made the massive mistake of apologizing…by butting his head into ‘Snotlout’s chest. To a dragon, it was warm and heartfelt. To a human, it might as well have been an assault. The human’s paws flew up to the sides of Hiccup’s head but did no more. On the complete opposite spectrum, Astrid all but flung her axe into his neck that very instant, and it took all I had not to leap right over Hiccup and crush her to bits!

Pulling back with a small, saddened grin, Hiccup began clawing a different message into the ground. ‘Snotlout’ placed his free paw over the spot Hiccup had just touched, claws twitching, and ‘Astrid’ stalked her way over with her weapon never straying from its ready-to-strike position. I also admit that I was guilty of crowding, even though it all looked like squiggles and lines to me.

“What’s it say?” I whispered to Hiccup before he even finished.

“’First I said sorry. Then ‘The Queen dragon uses magic to control all dragons that go to the nest. If she is gone, dragons and humans won’t have to fight. The Night Fury is free of her spell and won’t hurt you’,” Hiccup translated. He scratched for a little bit longer and stepped back. “Now can you please, uh, stop growling at them? It’s hard to argue that dragons not under her control can be nice to humans when you’re sitting there ready to kill them at any moment.”

I huffed. This, _again?_ “They were ready to kill _you_ at any moment, too.”

‘Astrid’ looked over, her eyes trained on me. I returned the stare at once. Although I didn’t bare my teeth this time, I did allow my eyes to narrow.

The axe moved almost too fast to see, the curve digging right into Hiccup’s neck by the time I could react. Hiccup’s eyes widened as he flinched away, but it held firm against his scales. ‘Astrid’ returned her eyes to me, the challenge easily crossing over to me. _Go on_ , she was saying. _Prove him wrong. Give me an excuse to kill him._

I stood my ground. The little wretch pushed the axe deeper into Hiccup’s throat, giving rise to little streams of blood cracking from beneath his scales and running down like little rivulets. His pupils shrunk, a hint of fear emerging, but still stayed completely still.

“Back away,” she ordered. I almost recoiled at the sheer absurdity of it; a _human_ telling a _Shadow-Blender_ what to do?! Absolutely not!

Hiccup definitely thought otherwise. He flicked his ear at me and managed to pull a somewhat believable calmness onto his face. I hesitated for a moment.

 _Damn it, Hiccup, I hope you’re right_ , I thought. With movements almost too slow to be reasonable, I dropped my defensive position and slid backwards. When I was a full winglength away I stopped and sat down, wrapping my tail around my paws and keeping my head high. “You have no control over me, human,” I informed her. “I do this by my own.”

“Woah…it totally listened to you.”  ‘Snotlout’ appeared almost impressed. “Now roll over!” He said, thrusting his weapon into the air. I snarled with extra teeth. Down it went.

“Toothless,” Hiccup chastised at a near whisper. ‘Astrid’ took notice, finally tearing her attention away from me and back to him. She loosened her hold on him, allowing him to drop his head back down, but still kept the axe firm on his neck.

“I remember telling you that I would kill you if you ever betrayed us,” ‘Astrid’ said briskly. I bristled and Hiccup’s eyes took on the size of the moon, but she acted as though she were having casual conversation. “So-called nest location or not, you need better proof than a convenient alibi. You killed _dozens_ of people!”

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, hanging his head and sucking in a deep, rattling breath. I wanted to roar at them that it wasn’t his fault, but they wouldn’t listen! The ‘proof’ that the humans wanted was too impossible, too unreasonable! What did they expect? Have us take them to the nest and _show_ them the Queen? Would that finally convince them that we were trying to put an end to this?

I blinked and shot to my feet just as ‘Astrid’ pursed her lips and began to shift the axe far too close to Hiccup’s soft spot for comfort. ‘Snotlout’, who had never taken his eyes off of me, crouched low. “Hey!” Getting to my feet and nodding towards the forest, I waved a wing in an even more obvious “follow me” fashion. Hiccup looked up with half-lidded eyes, tipping his head to the side. I grunted and nodded again to the forest.

“No.” ‘Snotlout’ said, bearing an unimpressed look that resembled Hiccup so much that it made me uncomfortable.

Hiccup slipped away from ‘Astrid’, jerking back when she spun towards him. He leaned in close, staring deep into her eyes. Then, as if jolted from a dream, he skirted around her with frantic, flustered steps, making sure to lean down and nose ‘Snotlout’ gently in the shoulder and give him a weak smile. The human wore the same horrified expression he’d had when Hiccup had apologized to him, back when the pod of humans had come down into our cove.                                                                                                 

Hiccup returned to my side, and I leaned into him in an offer of support. The two humans turned to each other and started a hushed conversation that they were stupid enough to think we couldn’t hear, with ‘Snotlout’ even going as far as shielding his mouth with the stretched claws at the end of his paw.

“You said yourself that he wasn’t Hiccup anymore,” ‘Astrid’ said. “We need to tell the Chief! We are _not_ making this mistake again!”

“I know!” ‘Snotlout’ hissed back. “But…just…”

“But nothing! One of us has to keep them here and make sure they don’t just fly off again. Just talking to Hiccup should do that. The other has to go the Chief’s and…”

She was cut off when ‘Snotlout’ blurted, “It’s just that he seems a lot like how he used to be! You just called him ‘Hiccup’!” ‘Astrid’ was unable to come up with any “explanation” for this, and he said, “What if he’s not lying and we can change him back?!” This last sentence was said with such earnest that Hiccup sighed and ducked his head, ears drooping. I was a bit taken aback myself.

This seemed to give ‘Astrid’ pause. “How could we even do that? And you still know what he’s done. We can’t just forgive that.”

“Astrid, can’t we just try? What if we _can_ get him back?”

I sighed as she shot back a rephrase of why she couldn’t trust Hiccup: he hurt a bunch of Vikings, he lied, bla bla bla. The dumb girl could only see things from her point of view and had never taken any explanation without keeping some gas her throat; why would she start _now?_ This was wasting precious time going back and forth.

Finally having enough of it, I nudged Hiccup and said, “I think we might need a little bit of help.”

He turned to me, brows raised high and ears sticking up. “That’s crazy! What if something happens?”

“I’ll be able to handle them,” I said. “Besides, you’re a lot more convincing than I am. We need to hurry before they decide to pull something.”

Hiccup pawed at the ground nervously, eyes flickering over to the humans.

“Hiccup, you’ve done all you can. We’re going to need to do a lot more if we ever want to get their help.” I couldn’t help but glance up at the sky. My stomach dropped when I realized how low the moon was setting.

He checked the time as well and frowned. “…Alright. I’ll be back in a minute!” He crouched low and took off on the spot, his shadow encompassing the humans before disappearing into the night sky. Their conversation came to a halt.

“What the—?! Where is he going?” ‘Snotlout’ shouted in disbelief, holding his paws out wide.

Oh, gods, was ‘Astrid’ _furious._ I could just see her little “one stall here and the other get the elders” plan falling apart right in front of her. It was beautiful, really. “Are you kidding me?! He _just_ sat there and tried to—ugh!” She raised her weapon at me and demanded, “Stay right where you are!”

I got up and moved a couple of meters over.

Gods, I didn’t know humans could get the red! She looked like a Flame-Skin! I would have rolled on my back laughing if I could have. Maybe I would have if the two weren’t sending scalding glares my way. Instead I sat down neat and tidy, keeping a calm eye on the two of them. They would never be on my level, and they were going to _know_ it.

Turns out, I probably shouldn’t have let my guard down. It only took a second, and suddenly the female human was dashing off into the woods through the opening that I’d just given her. I jumped in surprise, watching her go.

…well, I didn’t like her anyways.

 ‘Snotlout’ gasped at the sudden abandonment and made to chase after her, only to backpedal away when I leaped in front of him. I lowered my head and squared my front feet, tail swishing behind me. We needed at least _one_ of these idiots here when Hiccup got back. Besides, this one seemed a lot more ready to accept the truth than the other. She could trip and break her leg in that forest, for all I cared.

‘Snotlout’ feinted running in a different direction and then tried to go in the opposite, grunting in frustration when I easily intercepted. He held his thing at me and said in a somewhat shaky voice, “Move out of the way, Night Fury!” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I-I’m serious! You can’t keep me here forever!”

“I can arrange that,” I said, keeping my wings half-open. I was not above pinning him until Hiccup got back. Although that probably wouldn’t make a good impression.

Thus, a stare-down was commenced. Both of us knew that ‘Snotlout’ wasn’t going to get past me, which meant that he was just going to defiantly maintain eye contact to show me how independent he was. I was unimpressed, to be honest, but it was a good effort.

It wasn’t too long later that the sound of rushing feet began to emerge from within the forest. I shifted my posture to have an ear facing the edge of the path, never letting my eyes leave the human’s. A few seconds later, ‘Astrid’ burst through the trees, her skin paler than snow.

Damn it! Why couldn’t she have gotten lost?

“Snotlout, there’s more, we have to go—!” She rushed to warn, only to stop when the moon blinked out as something overhead blocked it.

Hiccup curved and fell into a neat landing at my side, the elder Hum-Wing and the young Flame-Skin in tow. I blinked at the latter; why would Hiccup bring the most vulnerable dragon in our team with him?

The newcomers landed on my other side, eyeing the battle-ready humans before them.

“Are these the ones that’re gonna help us kill the Queen?!” The Flame-Skin asked excitedly.

“We’re hoping,” I said. “We just need to show them that it’s possible to have an alliance. They’re _really_ stubborn.” Hiccup gave me a look, to which I grinned somewhat sheepishly at.

The elder harrumphed. She took several slow paces forward, paying no mind to ‘Astrid’ and ‘Snotlout’ as they reeled their weapons back. She paused a stride away from them and dipped her head low, lowering her body to the dirt and spreading her wings out in a formal bow that had once been reserved for the Queen only. “Greetings, humans. I beg your understanding—we have not been ourselves.”

The Flame-Skin took this as a model and rushed to her side, bowing so enthusiastically that he nearly smacked his jaw on the way down. “Please help us!” He cried. “We really, really need it!”

The humans couldn’t respond. _I_ couldn’t respond. To bow to a human—what a horrible, treacherous, _dangerous_ act! So caught off guard, even ‘Astrid’ lowered her weapon at the dragons openly submitting to her in her strike range.

“Should we do that, too?” Hiccup whispered.

“ _I’m_ not bowing!” I said.

Unfortunately, that apparently wasn’t the right answer. Hiccup trotted to the Flame-Skin’s side and adopted the same stance, wings spread wide and front legs bent. It was only a few seconds later that he rose, signaling the others to get back to their feet, but it was nearly impossible not to scoff as I stepped over to stand beside him.

Hiccup’s paw swept across the ground as he clawed out a message again. He spoke the message for our sake, “We desperately need your help. Almost all dragons are under her control and will continue to raid. Without the Queen, there can be peace.”

‘Astrid’ glanced over at me, and I nodded at her. Her bewildered, confused gaze turned to the Flame-Skin and elder. The young Flame-Skin rushed to bow again, which only served to make her lean away.

“This…this is crazy,” ‘Snotlout’ whispered.

“This is impossible,” ‘Astrid’ said just as quietly, her full attention on the Flame-Skin lowering himself to her alone.

Hiccup chuckled. “Don’t I know that,” he said. He lifted his paw and held it out, claws sheathed. “Truce?” Both humans still looked reluctant. “Please…Snotlout, Astrid.”

The two shared a look and then swung back to the rest of us as if making sure that we weren’t trying some elaborate plot to kill them just as they got their guards down.

“The other dragons would end up like this?” ‘Astrid’ asked nobody in particular. The Flame-Skin rose and cocked his head.

Hiccup’s head bobbed up and down. The Flame-Skin, keen to live up to his idol, mimicked him with enough enthusiasm to power a thunderstorm. At least ‘Astrid’ didn’t know that he probably hadn’t understood a word she’d just said, which only served us the better.

‘Snotlout’ seemed to come to a resolution, the anxiety melting away from his expression. He lifted his paw and wrapped it around Hiccup’s, shaking it once. “Alright. I’m all for being a hero!” He said with a weak grin. Hiccup returned it and the elder bowed thankfully to him, muttering a prayer to the Dragon of the Sun.

And the Flame-Skin reared up and licked his entire torso, overcome with excitement. ‘Snotlout’ yelped in disgust, backing up and swiping the saliva off of his fake fur to the best of his ability. The elder, Hiccup, and I all shot scolding glares and hisses at the hyperactive fletchling, the elder making a point of pushing a paw down on the tip of his wing to keep him in place. Dragoness of the Moon, did he _want_ to get us all killed?

“Astrid? What about you?” Hiccup asked after making sure the Flame-Skin wouldn’t try to cuddle again, extending his paw out to her.

She lifted her axe to stare down at it, then to the writing Hiccup had originally written into the ground. Her eyes dragged across to Hiccup’s plea for help, and then to the two new dragons in front of her—the only dragons besides myself and Hiccup that had ever been so close to her without trying to kill her.

 _We’ve moved mountains for you_ , I thought. _Just trust us already!_

‘Astrid’ lowered her axe and returned the gesture, her movements jolty and hesitant. “To stop the raids,” she clarified.

Hiccup smiled and shook his head, a low purr rising from his chest. He clawed into the soft earth once more.

“To stop the war.”

* * *

Everything afterwards flew by in a blur. Hiccup and I got to work dusting the ground off with our tails so that he could redo his message. ‘Snotlout’ mentioned something about his father probably wondering why he was so late, and ‘Astrid’ told Hiccup that she wanted to try and explain to the King what had happened. At first he declined the offer, and she’d stated, “Look at what this writing idea did for us. If all of this is going to be stopped, it’s going to take a lot more than just that.”

 The Flame-Skin offered to be an escort to them, which sounded like an _awful_ idea until I thought about it. If something went wrong, the observing dragon could fly ahead and warn the others before they were attacked.

I volunteered that instant. The two humans definitely were _not_ comfortable with the idea of me following them, but they would just have to deal with it. After a quick conversation (and hug from me) with Hiccup we left, leaving him with the elder and Flame-Skin to complete his message and hope.

‘Astrid’ and ‘Snotlout’ walked in the center of the pathway while I clung to the cover of the trees. Being a master of stealth, they had no idea where I was. They occasionally looked into the forest that I was currently stalking through, still uneasy with what had happened.

Eventually they reached the extremely small nest that had apparently once been Hiccup’s home. I thought it didn’t suit him—it was so claustrophobic and overbearing—and crept up around the jagged corner so that I could listen better. I poked my head around just to see the humans pound on it, for whatever reason. Why would they try to _break_ the nest? Were they really that stupid?

‘Snotlout’ noticed me looking and wildly waved his paw at me, and I ducked away just as I heard something click.

“Snotlout! What took you so long?! And why is Astrid with you?”

“Uh...well—“

 ‘Astrid’ said, “Spitelout, something’s happened.”

There was a very long pause. Then another click, and the voices became muffled.

“Snotlout! We sent you out almost an hour ago! And Astrid, why are you awake at such a time?” Came the voice of the King. I was surprised that he didn’t have as much disappointment in his voice that Hiccup always said he would. He just sounded worried to me.

Then again, he was a monster, so it’s not like it made him any better.

“Uncle Stoick, uh…you see…this is kinda hard to explain…So, uh, I was walking back from getting the map, and, ah—“

“Hiccup’s returned to the island.” ‘Astrid’ cut off the aggravating stuttering.

For a second, the two elders absorbed this new information. My chest tightened. As unbearable as the previous approach was, she could have at least kindled the embers a little bit more! Learn some rhetoric, you stupid human!

“How do you know?” The King demanded.

“I ran into him on the way back. He wrote ‘I’m so sorry’ into the dirt and took off,” ‘Snotlout’ said, regaining his confidence. “I went to get Astrid after that.”

“Why didn’t you come tell _us?!_ Ugh—never mind, is that it?” The second elder asked. They must have gestured in some way, because he growled, “Then explain it!”

“We were running back to get you guys when we saw him again. He was with the other Night Fury and writing something, but I went ahead and attacked him. He made a big deal of not fighting back,” ‘Astrid’ said.

Then Hiccup’s _gods-damned father_ said, “And why didn’t you kill him?”

“Because dragons always go for the kill,” ‘Astrid’said, her answer swift enough for her to have memorized the information beforehand. “There was no reason for why a normal dragon would have done that. The Night Fury stood aside and let Snotlout and myself bring our weapons to his neck.”

“It was a trick,” the King snarled. There was a commotion, the sound of several objects being knocked over.

“That’s what we thought,” ‘Snotlout’ said. “But then Hiccup flew off, and he came back with a Gronckle and Nightmare.”

“There are more dragons on the island?!” The other adult gasped. “Wait—a _Nightmare?_ ” This time he sounded horrified, concerned. “How did you two get out of there?”

‘Astrid’ and ‘Snotlout’ paused. The extra noises stopped as if waiting for them.

“The dragons…bowed to us,” ‘Astrid’ said, disbelief still in her tone. “All of them but the Night Fury. The Nightmare especially. When I looked at it, it basically put its face in the dirt.”

“They were really close to us, too,” ‘Snotlout’ said. “The Gronckle was close enough to bite an arm off. It was so weird.”

“I still don’t believe it,” ‘Astrid’ muttered. “In his message, Hiccup kept on bringing up a dragon he calls the ‘Queen’ that apparently controls the dragons. He said that he and the others had just gotten freed of her, and that if she were killed, the dragons would stop attacking us. According to him, that’s why he’s here: to take us to the nest to help fight her.”

“The nest?” The King whispered in wonder, as if having finally found something he’d been searching a long for. “Are they still there?!”

“Yeah—wait, where are you…?”

There was a slam, and the sound of footsteps became brisk and clean. I risked a peek around the edge and saw the King stalking down the path. Another human followed after him, with ‘Snotlout’ and ‘Astrid’ on their tails.

Oh, great. This was _not_ helping. He didn’t believe them! He was a Viking; of course he’d need it to slap him in the face multiple times before he even considered it.

I opened my wings and caught the wind, flying directly above the group and landing in front of them. The King withdrew a sword without hesitation, and the human that I had once faced in their tournament picked up a weapon from his belt.

“So it’s true,” the King said. He took a step forward.

I nodded my head as deliberately as I had before. It seemed to work on humans well enough, anyways. Then I barked and motioned to the pathway with my head, stepping down it and looking back over my shoulder. Without giving them time to think, I trotted down the path like it was a pleasant, sunny day.

The sound of rushing feet was my only warning. I turned around in time to see the sword slicing the air towards me. Ducking away, I backed up and growled, pounding the ground with my front feet. “ _Enough!_ ” I screamed so loud my voice bounced off the trees! “Enough with this already!”

The King held his weapon up, staring directly into my eyes.  He brought the sword to the tip of my chin, the fine point digging in like a tiny, glowing-hot stone. His other hand reached to his midsection, where a somewhat familiar object was attached. It wasn’t a weapon, but that didn’t make me like it any more.

This wasn’t working. I needed to convince them to at least not attack us on sight. How could I do that?!

The answer was obvious. I hated it.

A lot.

Oh, Dragon of the Sun, this was going to be _humiliating…_

I loosened my battle stance and stooped over, spreading my wide wingspan out across the pathway and raising my tail so it was only a clawlength off the ground. Bending my front paws in, I let myself drop further, nose so close to the ground that I could smell the wetness of the last rainfall. My entire body burned in shame, it was so awful! The fact that he was a King was no comfort!

Tilting my head up enough to meet his eyes, I held perfectly still. The King was just as shocked as any other human, but his sword was held ready.

“Great Odin above…” The King’s relative whispered.

His superior looked over at him. “Go wake up the warriors and tell them to finish readying the ships. Then come back here if I haven’t returned.” He turned to me and said, “Show me how to get to the nest, devil.”

I nodded and did my best to keep my scowl from being too obvious. Rising from my previous disgraceful position, I backed aside to let the other human pass. For some reason he took off into the forest instead, which I suppose made sense if he wanted to get to the village faster. From what I’d seen from above, we were on the outskirts, and the trail we were on now skirted around it first before leading directly into it.

Oh, well. One less human to worry about.

Much less reluctant to turn my back on him, I opened my wings a bit and gestured down the trail again.

“That one didn’t do that to us,” ‘Astrid’ whispered, perplexed. “I guess it respects you?”

“Lucky,” ‘Snotlout’ grumbled. I sighed. I was _never_ going to outlive that.

The King didn’t respond, but did hold his sword up to me. I spun and glided to the crest of the next hill; there was no way I was going to risk turning my back on him again!

The human broke out into a sprint, his inferiors following close behind. I waited for him to be a winglength away and did the same thing, bouncing from hilltop to hilltop. The cold determination on the monster before me was almost chilling, and it didn’t take long for me to wonder if I’d made a terrible mistake.

 _Well, what’s done is done_ , I thought to myself as I reached the last hill. I looked down upon the markings decorating the hill before me. Hiccup and the other two poked their heads out of the forest cover, and I glided down to them.

“Did it work?” Hiccup gasped as rushed into the open.

“As well as it could have,” I said. “He wants to know where the nest is.”

Hiccup smiled. “I know.” He rubbed his cheek against mine and said, “Thanks, Toothless.”

I returned it. “Of course. He should be here any moment now.” I spun to face the hill, perking my ears.

“Him and Spitelout?”

Who the hell is ‘Spitelout’? “No, just him and your friends. He sent the other away. Something about ships.”

This seemed to concern Hiccup, but he had no time to ponder. He perked up, pupils shrinking, and froze.

I took in a deep breath. _Here we go…_

This time would be different. We weren’t going to end in failure.

I would make sure of it.

* * *

Dad’s expression was…unbearable. I had thought Snotlout had looked distraught to see me. But this—this was far worse. Even from our distance, I could see the sword nearly slip from his iron grip.

“Dad,” I whispered, taking a few steps towards the hill. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe, my heart jolting in panicky beats. I lowered myself into a bow, ears and side-frills pinned and wings held parallel to the ground. I held still and counted to three before I rose, pointing with a paw at the message on the hillside.

“Who’s that?!” The Flame-Skin yelped from within the forest. The elder and Toothless shushed him.

My father glanced over at the writing—and ignored it. My heart sunk as he stalked towards us, fury slowly building. “You,” he hissed. “You take my son away, you claim to be him only to try to take my life, you put his name to infamy and kill _hundreds_.” He stopped a few meters away, holding the sword up.

Each word like a dagger, I felt myself sinking lower and lower to the earth. _No….no, stop it! Please!_ I crumpled, squeezing my eyes shut and gritting my teeth. _Please, it wasn’t me…it wasn’t me…oh, gods…_

“And now, you and your friend want to take me to your nest. You expect me to believe _this?_ ”

I rose my head up, mouth slightly open in despair. Then, knowing full well how useless it was, I began clawing into the dirt. It gave way easily, bringing forth crisp and clear writing.

_The Queen controlled all of us._

Dad narrowed his eyes. “And were you ‘controlled’ when you were in the Ring?”

I couldn’t meet his eyes and shook my head. Swiping at the ground to clear it, I wrote in it again.

 _I was scared._ Dad’s eyebrows rose at this, and I added sullenly: _I didn’t mean to. I thought you were going to kill me._

His eyes held no warmth or empathy. “And why shouldn’t I?”

 _Because I’m your_ son _!_ I wanted to shriek. _Because I never meant to hurt you! Because all of these terrible things have all been the Queen’s fault!_

_…because you’re supposed to love me…_

_Just like the Queen did_ , a traitorous part of my mind whispered. My heart dropped, and I put all my strength into pushing it away. She hadn’t loved me. She hadn’t.

…hadn’t she?                                                                       

 _Stop it!_ I squeezed my eyes shut and sucked in as much air as I could. I had to focus. I had to convince Dad right here and now that we weren’t enemies, or it would all be over.

I glanced up at him and wrote the only thing I didn’t want to say:

_Because you need me to get to the nest._

Dad’s face remained…well, stoic. “Other Vikings tried, and all of them have been attacked.” He glared. “Many have lost their lives because of you. The same will happen to us.”

I grimaced and wrote, _That’s why we need your help. With us, we can make it to the island and take down the Queen._

“Us? And how many dragons are here?” He demanded.

_Fourteen._

Oh, man, that did _not_ make him happy. Dad glanced up at a completely lost Toothless, probably wondering where the other twelve were.

I cleared the ground again. _We’ll lead the ships to the nest and also protect it from any dragons._

Toothless jolted beside me, looking over his shoulder and then back to me, eyes huge. His ears swiveled towards the other side of the path. Dad and I largely ignored him.

Hidden in the underbrush, the Flame-Skin whispered, “What’s going on?” The elder growled at him to silence him, her voice barely audible as she began to explain.

“It sounds like you’ll turn on us once you get there,” Dad observed, bringing my attention back to him. My stomach dropped and I shook my head wildly. Toothless gave a soft hiss, still concentrating on what was behind us.

I swept away the last message and raised my paw again, throat tightening. Oh, gods, it wasn’t working. What was I going to do?!

The answer was not something I wanted or expected. From the darkness the Flame-Skin shrieked, “Well, we have to help him!” and burst from the forest. I tried to jump in front of him to stop him, and Toothless spun back to face everyone, but there was no time! Before we could do anything the young dragon had stopped in front of my father and bowed low to the ground, crying, “Please help us!”

Years of fighting dragons were showcased in a single movement as Dad jumped to the Nightmare’s side and raised his sword, seconds from bringing it down onto his exposed neck.

“ _NO!_ ” I screamed, sprinting in front of the fletchling opening my wings wide. Snapping a paw out, I knocked Dad’s hand away, sending his sword clattering into the shadows. Toothless was just as fast, grabbing the Nightmare’s scruff in his teeth and literally dragging him away. The elder flew out to his aid, standing in between myself and the other two, eyes narrowed. I backed up as fast as I could, crouching low and breathing heavily. “Oh…oh no…”

Dad looked over where his weapon had gone and back to me. “How _dare_ you!” He snarled. “You bring these…these dangerous _beasts_ to my village and try to tell me they’re tame?” His hand flew to his belt, where something was hanging off of it.

The Flame-Skin gasped and warned, “Fly away! There’s more and they’re angry!” A flurry of wingbeats and a rush of air, and he was gone.

I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder. I caught a glimpse of the elder zipping away, and a party of at least seven Vikings standing atop the hill. Toothless was in the process of turning away from them to look at me, his pupils thin in panic and wings held straight up.

Then a great force railed into my head. I yelped, stars filling my vision, and the world turned black. I came to a second later, lying on the ground. Something course and spiky was wrapped around me and holding tight—a net!?

A foot came down on my neck, _hard._ “One more step and I crush him,” Dad snapped. I managed to look up to see a hammer the size of my head inches away.

“Dad,” I whispered, my voice rough with disorientation. “He wasn’t gonna hurt you…”

“Leave that one be,” Dad said to someone. His voice was steel. “You will lead us to the nest. In return, I won’t kill your friend.”

“Rot in the Prebirth,” Toothless cursed. He opened his wings and rose onto his hindlegs, the moon blinking out behind him. “Release him _now!_ ”

“No—Toothless—“ I said. Squinting through the pain, I shifted just enough to see Toothless surrounded by Vikings, completely outnumbered. There was no way he’d be able to win a battle against them if all he could focus on was freeing me. “Do what he says.”

My friend jerked away. “What?! No! I’m not letting this _monster_ —“

“Toothless!” I rasped. “This is our chance. If we go with this, we can get them to the nest.”

He shook his head, eyebrows lowered. “No! We just got back together! I won’t leave you!”

“You aren’t going to,” I said. “Just get the others and go to the docks. Make yourself be seen or they might…” I cut the sentence off. “Dad knows how close we are. He knows you’d do anything. I promise, he isn’t gonna hurt me. Just go.”

He didn’t say anything. His legs rattled and he shook his head again, eyes darting to Dad and the others. He knew we were outmatched.

“Go!” I said again.

Toothless lowered his head, his entire body rattling. He slammed his paw on the ground hard enough to send cracks running through it and howled, “ _DAMN IT!_ ” Swinging his head up, he set my father a glower filled with enough loathing to burn an ocean away. Then, jaw set, he crouched low and swept away into the night, angling himself towards the cove.

Spitelout was among the Vikings who had returned. He watched Toothless go and then looked to Dad. “Sir?”

I stared up at my father. He observed me for a moment, his eyes ripping away at me. “Help me tie this one up.”

“ _No!_ ”

I blinked at the familiar voice. There was the sound of someone’s feet pounding the ground, and then Snotlout was standing in front of me.

“No!” He repeated, holding his hands out. He turned to his father and then mine, begging, “Can’t you see?! If we help them get rid of that royal dragon or whatever, we can get Hiccup back!”

“Snotlout!” Spitelout scolded.

“We can still save him!” Snotlout said. “We can stop the raids! We don’t have to do this!”

“He’s right,” came Astrid’s voice from nearby. “The dragons seem to need us more than we think they do. If we help them, the raids will stop.”

“You don’t know that for sure!” A woman in the crowd said. “Now, young lady, you get over here right this instant!”

“Uncle Stoick, come on!” Snotlout said. “ _Look_ at him! He wants to help! And it makes sense why he did all those things if that dragon was making him!”

Dad wasn’t having any of it. “You’ve been fooled. It’s an alibi.”

“And what if it isn’t?” Astrid said quietly. I shivered when I felt every single eye land on me. Speaking as if shocked, like she was just now realizing this herself, she went on, “What if he really was being controlled all this time, and just wants to stop the war? Or make up for it by betraying the dragons?” It was quiet, and she whispered, “He sure isn’t fighting back.”

The road became as silent as the flares the Queen sent out.

“That’s enough, Astrid!” Her mother was the first to speak, furious. “I’m sorry, Stoick. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

Spitelout went over and grabbed his son, dragging him away. Snotlout peered over his shoulder and looked me in the eyes. He mumbled an apology that only I could hear, and I lost sight of him as the crowd closed in like the ocean swirling around a drowned man.

* * *

They ended up wrapping me up like a show pony.

I was muzzled so firmly that I couldn’t open my jaw, and my wings bound tight enough to send pain lacing down my spine of I so much as twitched. My paws were tied together with just enough room to let me walk at a snail’s pace, but nothing more. Several strands of rope were connected to my muzzle and neck, giving them a sturdy—and painful—way to lead me. In fact, there were several ropes branching off of the ones holding me captive, and every Viking circled around me was holding onto _something_ connected to me.

Oh, and they’d also tied my base-fins and tailfins together. Even if I were to free my wings, there was no escape. So I’ve got that going on too.

I honestly had no idea if this was better or worse than the cart they’d rolled me around in last time. It was much less endearing, to say the least.

Dad took the main lead, the one directly tied to my muzzle, and yanked me forward. I grunted and stumbled, hissing when I tried to hold my wings out for balance and sent the rope digging in more. It _seriously_ didn’t help that the surrounding Vikings were all leaning back with all of their weight, pulling me in every direction at once and tightening the binds second by second.

I hung my head. I deserved this, in some way. It didn’t matter how much the Queen “loved” me. It didn’t matter how much she was like a foster mother to me. It didn’t matter that, for once in my life, I hadn’t been an outsider. Dragoness of the Moon, it just didn’t matter.

I had killed people. I deserved punishment. The Queen may have been behind it, but the facts were that I had come close to breaking free multiple times. In a part, it was me. I didn’t _want_ to walk away from that without so much as a slap on the paw. I had hurt people. I had ruined lives.

So I walked along like an obedient little dog, picking up the pace whenever my father snapped the ropes forward in an attempt to get a move on. The moon had all but set and the sun was starting to rise. The sky was blood-red, and the forest hushed.

We reached a hill to see a respectable swath of Berk. If I tried hard enough, I could just barely see dragons circling what looked like miles away.

 _Thank gods_ , I thought. Dad took notice of them as well, glancing down at me. I raised my ears hopefully, imagining him cutting me some slack once he’d realized that Toothless had done as he’d been told.

Dad’s eyebrows lowered. He gave a deep sigh and turned away, taking us down into the village. There was a fairly large amount of people milling around, and every single one of them stopped at once when they saw the infamous Shadow-Blender being led by their leader. I kept my eyes downcast, too ashamed to meet their hateful, accusatory gazes. If they had wanted my death before, when all I’d done was _exist…_

…well, in short, I wasn’t expecting any tea parties.

It was only when I heard a loud gasp, followed by someone shouting, “Hiccup?!” that I eventually raised my head enough to look around.

I locked eyes with Fishlegs. His jaw was slack and eyes bugging. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were standing at his sides, looked equally aghast at the sight of me.

Astrid and Snotlout both broke away from the crowd, and my childhood friend rushed over to them. “What happened?!” He hissed. “Is this why everyone’s preparing the ships?”

“He don’t look too good,” Tuffnut observed, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

“Yeah, he’s, like, limping,” his twin added.

Dad pulled on the rope, and I realized too late that I had stopped as I stumbled to the ground. “Come along,” he mumbled. I struggled to get my paws underneath me, and when I finally did, he repeated the earlier treatment. The Vikings at his immediate sides also pulled, forcing the rope around my neck to tighten more than was safe, even for a dragon.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see as my eyes filled with black spots. I took a couple of unsteady steps forward and my left hindleg gave out. What little air I had left me in a tiny breath, and I heard more than felt myself hit the ground.

“Get up,” came a harsh command from above. I obeyed, wheezing for air and trying to bring a paw up to my neck, but the constraints on them held me back. “You there, quit pulling on that so hard.”

The clamp on my throat loosened significantly. I pulled in the sweet, sweet air and shook my head, trying to clear it. This seemed to be good enough for my enslaver; he dragged my head forward with the lead the second I seemed “better”. Shooting a glare in the general direction of those who held ropes connected to my neck, I did my best to follow along without any more embarrassing screw-ups.

A crowd formed behind us as we went, following with wary footsteps. If I concentrated enough, I could hear Snotlout and Astrid exchanging whispers with the others, explaining what had happened. What they were saying was muffled by the other small conversations the kicked up in our dust.

Figures of dragons hovering overhead became more and more pronounced the closer we got to the dock. Several of them, Toothless amongst them, were hovering at a great height. I wondered if they could see me. The more prideful part of me hoped that they wouldn’t. Dad noticed them, too, and seemed to get more agitated with each street that brought us closer to the ships.

The shaking of the ropes continued from all ends, most noticeably from my father’s. I resumed my bowed-head position, taking it as it went and keeping pace as best as I could. I was just so _exhausted._ The sudden breakage of the Queen’s hold, followed by freeing thirteen other dragons and then running all around Berk’s forest and roads…it was tiring stuff. My head still hurt, and all I really wanted to do was lie down in the sunlight and get some sleep.

We reached the center of town, right outside Town Hall. I risked a peek around and flinched at the _mass_ of people. It was so concentrated that, for a second, Dad was forced to a stop as the crowd pulled in like a choppy ocean.

Standing behind him and chained up, a wave of bitterness swooped onto me. He was treating me like a pet. A dangerous one, yes, but still! He knew I could understand him—we had a _conversation_ , for the gods’ sakes!—but he still insisted on treating me like the mindless demon he so desperately wanted me to be. My nose wrinkled and my claws dug into the ground.

It wasn’t _fair._ I knew it was a foolish thing to ask for, after everything that had happened, but it still stung.

He pulled the lead. I followed him, keeping my head low for an altogether different purpose.

Now I was positive: I _really_ hoped the others couldn’t see me. Toothless especially. If he did…oh, man, that would not be pretty. The giant crowd was hard not to notice, though; it was only a matter of time. Hopefully he wouldn’t dive in headfirst and stick to the plan.

Finally we reached the wooden staircases that dropped straight down the cliffside that had protected Berk from invaders for such a long time. I could see straight down, all the way to the ships.

They were so far away. I sighed, wishing that this could all just be _over._ At first I’d thought this was bearable, but now…

I hated being treated like an animal. I wanted them to respect me! To at least treat me as a prisoner of war instead of a rabid dog!

It occurred to me that I desired the treatment I had been given in the nest, but it only served to make me all the more irritated and stressed.

Any semblance of family and familiarity had been ripped away from me with a single word. I had regained myself, only to wake up to a world where I had done terrible things, where I was willing to be treated with such distrust and violence and shame at the hands of my own father. I had lost my high ranking, my support from that monster, my sense of security that she had cloaked over me.

And, Dragon of the Sun above, I _regretted_ it. Now everything was so screwed up. I had gained my best friend—which made up for all of it! But in addition I’d realized memories that would haunt me until the day I died. I could no longer tell which language was the “right” language, whether I should use Shadow-Blender or Night Fury to describe myself.

I glanced up at the rising sun. I’d gained that, too. My stomach dropped in despair at something that I had never thought I’d have to deal with. What should I believe in? Before, I hadn’t believed in the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon. I’d written them off as Toothless’ fairytales. Now…

…were the humans wrong? What was to come of me, now that the immersion into the culture had taken hold of me so tight? What was I supposed to think? Even if the Queen were gone…what then? An image of Snotlout, disappointed and heartbroken, filled my mind’s eye. He wanted his Hiccup back so badly.

How much of “me” was left to give, though?

I looked away, swallowing a heavy lump in my throat and squeezing my eyes shut as everything cascaded over me in a great wave. I didn’t know.

I just didn’t know anymore.

* * *

We reached the main part of the docks, where all the boarding was taking place. My father stopped to talk to someone about the progress of the ship preparations.

I watched the sails for a long time.

Eventually I was drawn out of my uplifting musings by my father taking me along. The team held onto me tight as I stepped on a board leading to a vessel. Wouldn’t want me to fall into the water, after all! I’d be a goner. What a shame.

The boat was unsteady, bringing with it a seasickness that I knew wouldn’t subside for the rest of the trip. He led me to the center and onto—oh, so _that’s_ where the cage cart went. I hesitated where I stood, mind flying back to the last time I had been inside that thing. It was well-repaired: a wooden base with wheels and two metal rings that would fit tight against my body, preventing escape.

An addition was the heavy wooden ring attached to a chain. It had a metal clasp on one end and seemed to be capable of opening and closing around something. It didn’t take much to guess _what_ it would be going on.

A sharp tug sent me stumbling forth, and I stepped into the constricting cage and allowed myself to be closed in. All of my bindings but the ones holding my feet, wings, and tailfins together were removed, and I sent a prayer of relief up for that small mercy. Any thankfulness fell away when the wooden ring went _SNAP_ on my night, clutching my throat and nearly making my head smack right into the bottom of the cart. The chain was short, making sure that I would not be able to move my neck around much.

For a second panic took hold and I swung my head back and forth, desperate to catch sight of something that would help. Everyone was boarding the ships—including Astrid and Snotlout and the others…?

Snotlout was practically on his knees, speaking passionately to his father. Astrid and Fishlegs were interrupting him every so often. Eventually Snotlout ran a hand over his head, exasperated, and gave a tired wave. The five of them leapt onto a ship so fast, anyone would have thought that the entire island was set aflame and that that was their last chance to get off it.

The ropes still present gripped unbearably hard at my scales and groaned under their own strength. Dad finished double-checking my contraption and gazed down at it. Then turned to me.

I didn’t have the energy anymore to smile, or look hopeful and obedient, or do anything, really. I just stared back emotionlessly, eyes half-lidded. My father stared into me, a mirror of myself.

“All I wanted was my son back,” he said.

I took a moment to consider this. _I am your son_ , I wanted to say, but the muzzle wouldn’t allow me to speak. The ring weighed heavy as a burden on my neck and shoulders.

Tied up like this and caged, the words felt fake. It was hard for it to feel real after everything.

He didn’t say anything, long enough for me to consider the conversation over. “I can see it in your eyes, you know,” he finally spoke. “You don’t look at me the same anymore. Before…I could see just a bit of Hiccup,” he took in a deep breath, seeming to choke up. “But that’s gone now.”

My ears drooped. I looked away and hung my head.

_I’m sorry, Dad._

It surprised me, to be honest. He was my _father_ ; of course I’d be sorry. It was more that I had never realized it until now that had taken me off-guard.

I rose my head again, eyebrows lowering, and met his eyes. A low, apologetic croon was all I could manage, and I wasn’t sure if he was able to decipher its meaning. I tried to lean forward to bump my forehead to his chest, but the cart held me back centimeters away.

He held his hand out, but pulled it away before it could reach me. Turning away, he said over his shoulder, “Tell your friend to lead the way.”

It was almost a relief to see him go, but there was still that part of me that wanted him to stay. He went to the ship and started giving orders, and more and more passengers filled the deck and the other ships within my view. I took immediate notice of the catapults that sat ready on each vessel. They probably hadn’t had the time to put them on this morning…was my father planning on a nest search soon?

There was a sharp whistling of air followed by several surprised gasps. I craned my neck to the sky to the best of my ability, flinching as the ropes dug in. Uh oh.

Toothless was _pissed._

He hovered just above the sails, shaking in anger and claws and teeth unsheathed. I met his eyes, and the bond came to life in a roar of thunderous rage, disbelief, and shock.

I shook my head very slowly at him, sending up as much comfort and calm to him as I could. Of course, this turned to annoyance when I literally _felt_ Toothless brush it aside as blasphemy.

“Hiccup, I won’t allow you to be treated that way!” He began weaving around the ship, taking in all possible approaches for attack.

Again I shook my head, this time more violently. Toothless came around again and I forced the link up.

_This is our best shot. They won’t hurt their hostage._

Toothless snarled. “Those cowards are using you like a plaything!”

I sighed through my nose, and motioned out towards the ocean with the sternest look I could muster.

My friend hovered, uncertain. Then, with a disgusted grunt, he said, “The second we get to the nest, I’m cutting you free. They have no right to do this to a Shadow-Blender!”

He took off above, giving a leading call. The rest of our posse emerged from the clouds or from nearby pillars, circling just at the mouth of the bay.

“Set sail!” Dad ordered.

The ship rattled, the sails burst with air. At first it felt like nothing was happening. Inch by inch, the ship crawled through the water, until it eventually sped up and caught up with the others. Toothless made extra sure to send a dirty look Dad’s way and held his wings wide, catching an updraft and drifting along above. The others branched out behind him in formation, casting sidelong looks to the ships that they used to crush and set aflame.

I closed my eyes and took in a long breath, trying to keep the tightness out of my chest and my legs from trembling. Everything was all right. It was, for the most part, going according to plan.

We were going to fight the Queen. And now, we had the backup to win.

* * *

The flight from the nest to Berk took an hour or two. The voyage was not so efficient.

We were about an hour in when I realized that I had developed a whole new hatred for sailing. It was just so _slow._ We would have been halfway there already if all of us were flying! The rocking ship only agitated my nerves, making my stomach roil like I’d eaten rotten carrion. My wings were numbed and pinprickly from the tight rope, and I couldn’t control a slight twitching every few seconds as my body screamed for me to leap into the air and get off this stupid boat. The binds on my tailfins only made the _need_ to leap into the sky all the more prevalent; once something was taken away, it was hard not to desire it more than ever before.

I was given a wide birth after some time—I guess even the Vikings could tell that I wasn’t a happy camper. All I had to do was keep reminding myself that soon, it would be over…

…and that would be when we were at the nest. Which meant that would be when we fought the Queen.

Not too keen on mulling over _that_ , I focused my energy on staring straight ahead, watching the ocean and its islands as it become more and more familiar after my long treks over it. It was almost off-putting, seeing it like this. Before I had been enslaved, yet I was acting very much on my own will. Now that I was finally free, I was moving in reverse and imprisoned.

Being on the lead ship, I couldn’t see any others around us. But I could listen.

Eyes still locked on the distant horizon, I lowered my head and held my ears straight up, keeping them honed to whatever was behind me. If anything went wrong, if something happened on this ship or the others…if Dad decided that I was no longer useful…I would know.

It was unusually quiet. Dad and Gobber were having a hushed conversation about the nest and what they expected of it; Gobber had somehow learned of what I’d said of the Queen, and was trying to have some light banter over who got to kill her. Dad wasn’t partaking in the conversation much, remaining almost as quiet as I was.

I focused out behind me, closing my eyes in concentration. There was idle chatter in all directions, but the fleet was very much like the Queen’s flares: quiet, subdued, threatened. Many of the conversations were centered on the fact that there was a group of thirteen dragons led by a Shadow-Blender that were gliding overhead like it was no big deal. Couldn’t blame them, really.

If I tried just hard enough, I could recognize a few voices. Gobber’s and Dad’s were the easiest. In one direction I could make out Snotlout and the others—more specifically, the twins, whom apparently had not gotten the memo that it was quiet time—and even Belch. Out of curiosity alone I tried to pick up what he was saying, and caught very faint crumbs of whispered conversation:

“…dragons…doubt how reasonable he…so many…catapults…ready to fight!”

Snotlout said something right afterwards—was he talking to Belch? That would explain why they sounded so close together.

I branched out to the other half of the ships, tilting my ears to catch any wayward sounds.

Someone much closer than Belch and the others was much easier to hear. Also much more apprehensive. “I just don’t think this is smart,” she said. “The Night Furies coming back to Berk, of all places? They had every right to stay away—they were scared. They knew we could overpower ‘em. Now we’ve got one being walked around without so much as a yip and the other supposedly leadin’ us to their home.”

“Whaddya think, then, Freyunn? ‘Parently this is the best way to the nest. ‘Sides, they woulda attacked us by now anyways.”

“It’s a trap, and we’re all sailin’ to our deaths. That Night Fury has no reason for forgiveness, and I doubt he’s _really_ as vulnerable as he looks.”

“I think he’s tryin’ to make amends.”

“I think he wants revenge.”

I shuddered, recalling that moment on the bridge when I’d nearly tried to tip it—and everyone on it—over. The fact that the nameless man talking to Freyunn was on my side was a small comfort, but at least it meant that _someone_ other than Astrid or Snotlout had found a reason to trust me. Judging by what I’d been hearing so far, every person counted.

The sun was starting to rise in its highest point in the sky. Even so, when I opened my eyes, I could see the moon rolling across the sky to meet it.

* * *

We were almost there.

I closed my eyes and focused. If I searched hard enough…there. The ball of light at my forehead was not nearly as strong as I had hoped, but still I nudged it awake again and watched it increase in size.

Wider and wider it grew, a shockwave that pulsed in all directions like a pool of magma. There was a strong resistance trying to push it back—a choking shadow that encompassed everything around us. The second I had my influence large enough to notice, it swooped onto me and tore at my magic, splitting my head and forcing a hasty retreat.

My eyes snapped open. My legs were shaking and it was difficult to breath. The ring had forced my head and neck into what could be perceived as a wildly uncomfortable sleeping position.

I ground my teeth together, baring my teeth at the deck. Then I closed my eyes, found the small orb of light, and thrust it out into the open again.

I got just a fraction further before the shadow sent me fleeing.

* * *

“Hiccup!”

I hesitated, not quite sure if I was really hearing something or not. My sphere of magic, large enough to reach the flock above, finally gave way under the struggling assault of the shadow. Taking in a deep breath to try and calm my racing heart, I craned my head.

Toothless’ eyes were wide. I drew the link forth, and through it an image of faint gray blurs sitting on the ocean’s surface flew into my mind.

Trying to ignore the worry and concern for my safety, I nodded at my best friend and twisted around as far as I could. If I strained my neck and eyes enough, I could see my father sailing the ship out of the corner of my eye.

Giving the loudest bark I could with a muzzle on, I strained my entire body against the ropes and cart, swinging my tethered tail and stomping a paw. The Vikings on the ship gave a start and gave me suspicious, slightly-creeped-out stares, but stayed right where they were. Groaning to myself, I slammed my front paws on the deck and reared my entire torso as far back as the chain on the wooden ring would allow. The ropes connecting my paws gave tiny little cries as they tore apart strand by strand.

“Eh, maybe he’s hungry?” Gobber said.

 _Maybe I’m trying to tell you something!_ I thought back, yanking a paw back so hard it sent a rope holding my legs close flying, no longer able to handle the solo tug-o-war. It granted my just a little more flexibility that I used to my full extent, gouging deep clawmarks into the soft wood of the cart and leaning back and forth, pulling my head back and straining my wings to open! The ropes began to split, thinning out by the second. The muzzle loosened as I tried to open my jaw wide—if I could just get a paw up, I could rip it off!

The hint of freedom was too enticing—I wanted _out!_ We were going to face the Queen and I was standing here trapped inside a cage, when I should be up in the skies with the others!

The ropes attached to my neck and muzzle went taught, pulling me back down to reality—literally. I backed up, swinging my tail and holding my head back as I fought to get my wits about me. Dad gave another good pull, and finally I stopped.

 _Uh…whoops._ I gave what I hoped looked like a sheepish grin. Dad slowly loosened his hold on the ropes, a hard stare settled on his features and—yep, there was the disappointment. I could just barely see it.

I set my eyes on the distant horizon and nodded at it, pointing with my nose. A soft growl lifted from my throat. Then I looked back to my father and repeated myself, pawing at the cart as I did so.

Dad’s eyebrows scrunched together and he turned away, producing a telescope from his belt and looking off into the distance. I still couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary; being much higher than us, Toothless probably had been able to see it first.

My father’s posture went rigid. “Helhiem’s Gate,” he said. He lowered the telescope and looked to me.

Up and down my head went in a slow nod. I strained my neck as much as I could, digging my eyes into his.

Dad broke away the stare. “Prepare for battle!” He shouted, making his way back to his previous post. “Ready the catapults! We’re approaching Helhiem’s Gate!” He stopped at my side, hesitating. I looked up to him, ears perking up a bit, and he mumbled, “Don’t cause any more trouble.” Then he was gone, lost in a sudden cacophony as all Vikings readied themselves.

I looked forward again, narrowing my eyes and lowering my head. My legs bent as much as they could into a battle stance. I breathed in through my nose and slowly released it, pulling my magic out with my breath. It held steadfast, reaching all the way to Toothless and the others. I could feel their anxiety and fear, the adrenaline and breathlessness. Faint whispers came into my mind, each of them their own familiar voice.

An urge to help them lifted from my heart. It was almost tempting to dig deeper in their minds to listen, so that I could comfort them…

No! I shook my head fiercely, banishing the notion from my mind. I was _not_ the Queen!

The pressure on my little sphere of safety was stronger than I expected, but oddly enough, it wasn’t trying to dissolve it as it had done before. I could sense the shadow staring in; it was observing me now. In it I saw the harsh whip of betrayal, the sorrow.

 _Your time is up, you so-called Queen_ , I said to it.

I could faintly hear a sad little chuckle. The shadow responded not with arrogance, not with rage…but with a whisper of compassion, of love.

The shadow came down on my confusion, almost nuzzling against the barrier I had wedged against it. It sang a song of loss, its ‘voice’ filled with understanding and remorse. It begged for my forgiveness.

 _No!_ I said.

The shadow pressed up against its own bindings. It pierced deep, pinpoint claws into them. It didn’t break my hold against it—but it was enough to send a message across.

Memories sprang into my mind. Emotions I had never predicted to experience again. Voices I did not recognize, but still knew regardless. Pain beyond imagining, pain I was too familiar with.

My heart dropped to my stomach. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes were wide open, yet I couldn’t see. The sounds of the humans behind me fell away to soft rain patter, as if someone had pulled wool over my ears to muffle all sound.

_Oh…oh, Dragon of the Sun...!_

The exposed shadow gave a gentle nudge against the shield. It cracked, wavering in strength.

How could I have not have seen it? It was so obvious—oh, gods, what was I going to do?

Even through the blockage, I managed to hear a single voice cry out to me. I lifted my head to find it. Toothless’ expression hardened in determination. He pulled his wings in and came down in a silent dive, landing in front of me and looking deep into my eyes.

_Toothless, the Queen—she—she—_

He bumped his forehead against mine. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “She’s no match for us.”

 _He’s right_ , I thought. The real world faded away again, and I turned to the shadow. It wavered, flickering in wariness. With a burst of magic I sent it flying back, roaring, _You will never hurt anyone ever again!_

The shadow back-pedalled and stumbled. It couldn’t fight back, it was so aghast. For a moment it hovered, unable to respond. Then, exploding with vehemence, it drew its wrath upon me.

With Toothless beside me, I wasn’t going to let it through. I held steadfast, drawing strength from him, as the shadow howled and fought to find a way in.

 _Stay away!_ I flung my magic forward and _ripped_ at it! It was in my claws for only a moment before darting away, all of its remnants lifting like fog.

My vision returned, filling with the ship and the ocean and Toothless. I blinked at him, and he slumped in relief.

“Thank the Dragoness of the Moon,” he gasped. “I felt…something. And you were so still. What happened?”

Behind me, Gobber asked nobody in particular, “So are we just gonna ignore that Night Fury or…?”

“Get it off the ship!” Dad yelled.

Toothless glanced behind me at him, worry crossing his features. He opened his wings, scowling, and rose to his hind legs—

“ _Shadow-Blenders!_ ” A dragon shrieked from above. All commotion stopped as both humans and dragons looked up to them. “Look!”

Toothless fell to his paws, whipping around. I stood as tall as I could and managed to peek over his shoulder. The stone forest was now in sight, such a familiar sight that a wave of homesickness gnawed away at me.

What looked like a cloud of red, yellow, and blue was lifting from it in a spiral, thousands of tiny movements blurred into a single cluster. The shadow returned, and I could almost feel it smirking as it tried to tear against my barrier.

Everything went dead quiet.

“They’re coming!” Both a dragon and human shrieked in unison. Dad began shouting orders, in the chaos Toothless spun and began clawing and biting at the metal rings of the cage in an attempt to get them loose. I pulled against those attached to my paws, stretching out further, and with ear-popping snaps they lost their grip.

I ducked down and pulled the muzzle off with my freed paws. Inhaling deeply, I sent flames down onto the cart—the _wooden_ cart. As faithful to my design as it was, they had forgotten to replace all hints of flammable material inside it. The flames burned—especially at my shoulder—but caught onto the remaining ropes, freeing my wings and tail at last! The wooden ring caught fire as well, slowly eating at the enormous hunk of wood.

With a furious snarl Toothless away from the metal rings and grabbed the top of the wooden ring, right where the clasp was. The metal began to creak and groan and the ring shook wildly as he dug his claws in and pulled with all his might!

“Stop them!” My father demanded, but he was too late. The ring snapped clean in two, falling as two pieces of shredded wood to the cart, and I became a blur as I flung myself to freedom. With precious seconds to spare I spun to face him and the others, spreading my wings and tailfins wide and letting loose a roar!

For a second, the crackle of the slowly-burning cart was all that could be heard.

I met my father’s gaze, crouching low, and then nodded towards the wave of death before us. His eyebrows rose high before setting firm over his eyes. He stalked over, ignoring Toothless’ warning growl, and stopped before me.

I set him with a determined look and turned away, hissing at the rapidly-approaching dragons. I could _feel_ the Queen among them. She was determined to have every one of them target Toothless and myself, letting the other dragons and humans be nothing more than a secondary thought.

Looking to the sky, I saw the moon and sun besides each other, each as clear as the other. The last time I had seen such an event, it had filled me with fear. Now I closed my eyes and concentrated, finding the ball of light at my forehead and reaching it out to them.

A wave of power like nothing I had felt before swept through me. I gathered it, enclosing it around me into a single, concentrated mass. Allowing myself a moment to take in a deep, long breath, I sent a silent prayer up to them.

My eyes snapped open, and I shot my gods-aided magic towards the Queen’s flare like an arrow.

Toothless flinched and the dragons above me fluttered midair. The shadow screamed as it was pushed back, back, back! The arrow swept forward, destroying the curse as it went and leaving a wake of safety in its path. The unsuspecting puppets had no defense against it, no way to turn around and avoid it.

The arrow struck, and I felt it slice deep into every dragon’s heart. All at once emotions, thoughts, and memories flooded into me. They all began to fall at once, but I wasn’t alone this time; I had the strength from Toothless and the gods to keep both myself and them awake. I kept the unconsciousness at bay, helping each and every single one of them lift into the air before they hit the ocean.

All around, Vikings gasped. Toothless turned to me, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“…Hiccup?” He breathed.

 _“You’re free now!”_ I screamed both with my voice and mind, lifting my head high underneath the sun and moon. “ _Help us fight the Queen! Make sure her tyranny doesn’t last a second longer_!”

The flock hovered midway between the ships and the stone forest, having stopped in their approach. A good chunk broke away and flew off in random directions, abandoning their brethren from fear. The second any of them left the sphere I had created, I could do nothing but watch as the shadow lurched onto them, taking them once more.

A great thundering filled the air, permeating from deep within the stone forest. The freed dragons flew away from it; the unlucky few who had been recaptured bolted to it like desperate night insects to a lamp. A sound that made a roar sound quiet split the entire earth in two, filled with pain and rage. Toothless and I ducked our heads and swayed, fighting off the nausea that came with loud noises.

Another tremendous boom shook the ships, sending the wood rattling. A dustcloud black as the night sly exploded to the heavens, dwarfing the stone forest. I had to crane my neck to see the top of it.

Toothless growled. He leaped to the edge of the ship and shouted, “Everyone! Prepare for the fight of your lives!”

Another roar wrenched into the open. The shadow flew to life, redoubling its strength and sending a spike through my head. I squinted through the pain, lowering myself into a takeoff position.

The dustcloud soundlessly began to part, bulging around a mass almost as big as itself. Lights began to emerge from within, flickering stars in the blackish-gray smoke. The flock of dragons all flung themselves towards the ships to regroup, fear and outrage and the need for revenge all merging into a single cry of heartbreak.

The Queen emerged without even the slightest sound. Her scales still smoking and bright orange in places from her home in the lava, her mountain-sized form cut through and carried the smoke behind her. She raised her massive wings and flung them down, so fast they became a brownish blur. There was an impact, and the ocean directly below her came up in a foamy white spray that reached the tips of her claws.

_thhhhWOOOM!_

I gasped as the blast of air ripped at me, nearly sending me tumbling head over tail. The sails of the ships rattled violently, and several dragons in flight gave screams as they were knocked out of the sky. A millisecond later, a massive wave smacked into the fleet, knocking every ship off-course and even causing a collision between two near the front.

“Hiccup!” Toothless growled. “It’s time to get a move on!”

Nodding, I said, “Just a second!”

I twisted around to face my father. His face was white, lips slightly parted and green eyes bulging.

“Dad?”

He looked down at me, comprehension seeming to dawn on him. Shock was replaced with horror. “...son?”

I choked, my voice suddenly catching in my throat. “Yes!” I managed to squeak out, nodding my head up and down so hard the world became a blur.

Dad grabbed my cheekbones and held my chin up in a gentle grip. He looked as agonized as he had that first day, when Toothless had disappeared into the forest and left him to conclude that I had been killed by the magic. His hands shook, sweaty against my scales.

We looked into each other’s eyes, and nobody dared to interrupt.

“I-I’m so sorry,” he whispered. His eyes were glassy.

I gave a sad little smile and rose a little on my hind legs, pressing my forehead into his chest. _I forgive you._

I held still for a second and dropped back down, twisting back to face Toothless. His eyes were wide, ears standing straight up. “Okay,” I said. “Okay.”

“Are you sure?” Toothless breathed.

I looked up at my father. He was holding his hand at the nape of his neck, as if he were planning on grabbing me and forcing me to stay.

He gave a tiny, small smile, dropping his hand to his side to withdraw a sword. “We’ll speak again.”

I nodded firmly, holding my wings and tailfins out. Toothless jumped off the ship, and I launched myself after him. We flew side-by-side, the wind rushing past us, our group taking their positions behind us, and the flock of dragons before us spinning around with teeth bared and claws unsheathed to face the Queen. She was surrounded by a small flare of dragons, the shadow pounding against my shield.

Dad’s faint voice caught on the wind, “Ready the catapults!”

“Hiccup,” Toothless said over the wind. “There’s something I want you to know!” He looked over at me, eyes wide by still electrified with determination. “You are like a brother to me. I’ll never regret having met you, no matter what has happened or will happen!”

 “Nothing bad is going to happen!” I said. “We’re going to end this once and for all!”

The link came to life. Love and concern shot between the two of us, and my sore myself and pounding head became nothing but inconveniences, as if my entire body had been revitalized.

It felt as though all but the innermost puzzle pieces had finally found their place, and all we had to do was put in that last, central connection.

We faced towards the Queen, the stone forest behind her covered with the blackened cloud that reached out in all directions before her. Her wings took up what seemed like the entire sky, bringing with her a dark mist with each stroke. The ocean roiled beneath her, flickering with movement just beneath.

She set six death-red eyes onto us in a predatory stare, glowing with malice and betrayal, stark against the blackness.

The Queen bared her teeth and roared. We braced ourselves, and dove.


	15. Chapter 15

The sky was black under the shadow of the monster, little flecks of color like dying embers giving the only hints that there were dragons about. My feet rooted to the deck and I stared with wide eyes, gazing up at the sky in wonder. Had it not been so dangerous, it would have been a beautiful sight—like watching a thunderstorm roil miles off the coast, too far out for landfall.

One ship in front of ours, Hiccup reared up on his hind legs and held his head against his father’s chest, as if checking for a heartbeat. The Night Fury watched with anxiety, its ears pressed against its skull. After a brief bout of grunts and barks, and a final look at the Chief, the two pulled themselves into the darkening sky.

I felt like I couldn’t even process it. There had been that lingering doubt that Hiccup had been lying, that his confinement and use as a hostage had been justified. I had _wanted_ it to be justified. If it wasn’t—if Hiccup had spoken the truth…

…Well, then that meant that I’d only been just another blow in a long series of agonizing events. I wasn’t okay with that. I still wasn’t—and probably wouldn’t be for as long as I lived. The past was in the past, though; we had to look forward.

I had a lot of amends to make.

Still, Hiccup had been the cause of a lot of our problems, too. First and foremost, the loss of our warrior apprenticeships. He had hurt so many people escaping the Ring during the tournament. While he felt like he had perfectly good reasons for doing so, the simple fact was that he _had_ stolen precious food supplies numerous times. He wasn’t a saint. I wasn’t going to apologize if he refused to acknowledge that he needed to as well.

Everything had felt like a trap, that we’d been led to our deaths. Seeing that horde of dragons had been the third-most terrifying moment of my life. Quickly followed by the second-most, when all of them suddenly turned to stones in the air, dropping like dead birds and then flinging themselves away from the water as Hiccup _howled_ in a voice filled with rage.

The gigantic monster that shouldn’t even exist, however, was what made me freeze in my tracks. It wasn’t until I saw Hiccup and his friend get to work that I realized that I’d been wasting precious time. I spun to face towards the others—towards our catapults. We had been assigned two, and by Thor were we going to make good use of them.

Fishlegs and _Tuffnut_ , of all people, were giving out orders to our group. Fishlegs, it was a no-brainer that he knew what to do. Tuffnut was much more of a shock. Here and there I’d heard him talk about catapults, but I’d had no idea just _how_ much he knew about them; he recognized the name of every contraption, the mechanisms of every rope. A faint memory of Ruffnut yelling at her twin about stealing catapult models came to mind, back during one of our meetings in the cove Hiccup had resided in, but it _really_ wasn’t that important right now.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked both of my friends. Glancing over, I saw Tuffnut’s father manning the ship, gritting his teeth as he tried to avoid a crash. The other warriors were assisting us, but were mostly preparing themselves for the real battle—when the ships sailed into the mist of dragons. Tuffnut and Fishlegs would be the authority figures for now, it seemed.

“Get that oil on there,” Tuffnut rushed, pointing at the gigantic rock in question. “We gotta light it. It’s gonna be _wicked!_ ”

“I hope it explodes!” Ruffnut shouted from the other end of the ship, where the second catapult had been placed. Fishlegs was struggling to get a stone up onto it, knees shaking under the weight. Snotlout jumped over from his position besides Tuffnut and helped lift it into its proper place before it crushed the poor guy.

The monster—the Queen, apparently—let loose a roar loud enough to send the deck vibrating. All activity stopped for just a second, and the fleet was silenced.

In the absence of orders, the Chief’s voice lifted through the air, burdened with sorrow and regret.

“We were wrong all along.”

I began to spread the oil across the stone as fast as I could. Tuffnut pulled some ropes and levers, and the whole machine shifted as it was prepped for battle.

“Aim for the wings,” I reminded him.

Tuffnut rolled his eyes and scoffed. “ _Duuuh_.” Then he changed the aim again, clearly having been aiming for something else. Ruffnut smacked him and tried to take control of the catapult. I finished slicking the black, slimy stuff over the stone and spun around to take in the battle.

The Queen drew closer, an army at her sides and six bloodshot eyes focused on two small, vulnerable figures in the sky. They led their twelve followers behind them, rapidly closing the gap of safety in between the two opposing sides.

A few seconds later, and everything burst into chaos.

* * *

“Flame-Skins and Hum-Wings, aim for her wings! Two-Walkers and Two-Heads, help keep those still under the Queen’s control away from the rest of us! The Shadow-Blender and I will take care of the Queen!”

Hiccup was quick to add, “And make sure you fly low, so that the Vikings can get some shots in on the Queen without risking getting hit!”

“ _Understood!_ ” Came the call of our followers.

I glanced over at my friend. “Can you free them again?”

He narrowed his eyes in concentration. “I’m trying, but I—ugh, I can’t! It’s difficult enough as it is to _keep_ everyone free.” He bared his teeth in frustration.

That…complicated things. “Don’t worry about it. We should be fine,” I said.

The Queen’s slaves hit the newly-freed dragons before we did. The resulting clash of fire and explosions gave rise to what seemed to be a continuous fire, fuelled with fear and hatred.

“ _You cannot win!_ ” Roared the voice of the Queen. It was almost unrecognizable, and it took me several moments to realize why: she was _speaking._ Before, she had been but a thought invading our minds, but now that Hiccup had broken the spell, she could no longer whisper her poisons inside our thoughts. “ _I will forgive your grievous actions if you stand down! Spare us the pain of this battle and return, my children!_ ”

We dove underneath the central battle, and dozens of slaves swooped down to meet us. I corkscrewed up and over an elderly Flame-Skin, grabbed his scruff in my claws, and threw him aside. Somewhere off to my right Hiccup gave a loud grunt and pushed a Hum-Wing away from him, which was quickly overtaken by the young Flame-Skin and sent fleeing. A Two-Walker in our flare rose and then dove heavy onto a dragon ready to overtake the young hatchling, saving the unobservant idiot’s life.

A Two-Walker opened their wings wide before me and held their talons out like a bird of prey. I braced myself, rearing up, only to be interrupt when a Two-Head I barely recognized barreled into him from above and shouted, “Quickly, Shadow-Blenders! Before they overtake you!”

Another dragon, channeling magic to fly as swift as a Shadow-Blender, hurtled down from above as if it were trying to prove a point. The elder Hum-Wing in our group growled loud enough to be heard over the roar of battle, and a second later a white-blazed fireball struck the threat right out of the sky. With a screech the dragon tumbled backwards, smacking into two others and sending them off-course.

The entire ball of warring dragons was losing more and more altitude, as all dragons focused on one task: kill the Shadow-Blenders, or defend the Shadow-Blenders. Glancing up at the cloud of color and fire above me, I couldn’t help but wonder how we were going to employ our plan fast enough! There was simply no time!

“Keep going!” Hiccup shouted, panting slightly as he ducked and weaved around the Queen’s puppets, having abandoned fighting them off. “Keep them low!”

Right on cue, something that looked like a flaming sun hurtled across the sky, barely skimming over the battle and flying directly into the Queen’s chest. Not a single wingbeat was off-rhythm, and she swept through the resulting cloud as if it were mist.

Lips raised, the Queen growled, “ _Your intentions will lead you and your beloved ones to the afterlife. Shadow-Blenders, you are more intelligent than this—put this madness to rest!_ ”

“That’s what we’re going to do!” I hurtled back, pumping magic into my wings to gain speed. The dragons above were coming down too fast—they were closing in on us and would pin us to the ocean from all sides!

“ _This is your last chance, lost ones. I must protect my children, even if I am forced to pay a heavy sacrifice!_ ”

I looked over my shoulder at Hiccup, whose snarl made him very unlike himself. “I’d like to see you try!” He taunted at the Queen, pulling a grin that all but screamed, ‘ _Hit me first!’_

Another flaming sun swept overhead, accompanied by two more in its wake. Only one met its mark against the Queen’s shoulder, leaving behind no indication of any injury. I knew they were from the humans’ ships, but it was still baffling to see such devastating weapons not even leave behind a scratch. It was downright _unfair!_

The hole that we had been speeding towards closed in, the slaves dropping from above and taking with them our only escape route. We weren’t going to make it!

“Magic! Now!” I ordered, opening my reserves and letting my power sweep through my limbs. The world jolted around me and the wind screeched against my wings, reducing everything to a blur of color. I reached the exit path just a second too late and gasped as a dragon managed to reach out and tear spines across my torso, spilling blood!

In a panic I twisted to see what was left behind, my heart sinking when the gap was nonexistent.

Hiccup had not made it out.

“No!” I screeched, building gas in my throat—

A huge burst of flame and a heat wave that filled my wings sent me tumbling head over tail backwards. I managed to right myself just in time to see the elder Hum-Wing zip out first, closely followed by the young Flame-Skin and the others. Hiccup was the last to exit, his scales smoking and a noticeable burn over his shoulder.

“Thank the Dragoness of the Moon,” I said, giving the injuries my companions had received a worried assessment. “Don’t ever do that again!”

Hiccup looked up at me. His eyes widened.

I ducked just as a horde of Little-Biters shot past. Their wings too weak and small to recover, they all gave screeches of anger as they flew out of reach.

“This isn’t over yet!” The elder Hum-Wing growled, zipping past and reminding me that going into a hover would likely result in my death. I pulled myself in front of her, and she continued, “Save the lecture for later!”

“Or never!” The Two-Walker who had harassed Hiccup in the cove said.

“I’m okay with that!” Hiccup piped up.

A new voice snarled, “And so am I!”

I had just a second to look up and see an enormous Two-Head descending on us, her scales as gray as old ash. She opened her jaw wide and blew choking, superheated gas upon our entire flare!

“Look out!” I screamed, desperately throwing myself down. It took only a second to twist my body sideways and thrust half of one wing into the frigid water, sending shivers down my spine. The membranes of my wing filled with water, and before the Two-Head could puzzle out what I was doing I strained every muscle in my chest and back to pull me into a violent spin, flinging the water up, up, up!

The miniature wave hit the Two-Head dead on, and her eyes widened in fury. The head responsible for the spark sputtered and snapped, but the damage had been done!

“Hah!” I cried as I righted myself again and we shot past it. “No fire for you—argh!”

Hiccup grabbed my scruff and pulled me aside just as the elder flung its full body weight upon me, missing by less than a winglength! The Two-Head , having aimed to push me into the ocean, howled in fear and anger as she smacked into the surface and sunk.

“That was _way_ too close!” The young Flame-Skin said pointlessly. Perking up, he said, “At least the worst part is over!”

He was wrong. That Two-Head had been one of the slower dragons, it seemed, as the sky was almost completely devoid of dragons before us now. The Queen calmly beat her wings and looked down on us with a cruel grin. For us, it would take at least a minute to reach her, but I doubted it would last more than a quarter of that time before _she_ reached us.

“We have to get her closer to the ships!” Hiccup shouted. “Their aim is off at this distance! We’re completely defenseless out here!” As an accentuation, a fireball flew right past the Queen and met its end under the roiling waves. A quick glance over my shoulder showed a large portion of the freed dragons struggling to trap the Queen’s army inside their ranks.

“ _I see that you have betrayed you brothers and sisters, you misguided fools,_ ” The Queen said. “ _Especially you, Shadow-Blender. And after I gifted you so much freedom!_ ”

I bared my teeth, holding my wings wide and forcing us to fly perpendicular to the Queen. “You liar!” I snarled. “You _never_ had control over me!”

The demon chuckled. “ _Oh, we all know that is a lie. Am I not correct, Hiccup?_ ”

I grunted and glanced over at my friend, waiting for his defense.

The expression of hatred set firmly over his face nearly made my limbs freeze where they were. “Toothless,” he murmured. The rest of our posse bore pitiful expressions.

My jaw worked up and down, and the Queen rumbled, “ _I am afraid to inform you that were never a free dragon. Why, without my guidance, you would have killed your friend many times over. But I saw potential, and encouraged friendship…_ ”

“No…” I hissed, shaking my head to try and keep the venom from seeping any further into my ears.

“ _Without me, you would have died alone and frightened upon that island, burdened with a lifetime_ _’s filling of regret. Without me, you would have never formed your very first friendship, lonely Shadow-Blender from the south, he who fled his land from the pain it caused him._ ”

“What?” Hiccup asked. Turning to the Queen, he ordered, “That’s enough! Leave him alone!”

I ignored him with wide eyes, and I unsheathed every tooth and claw to their fullest. “I left home because I had nothing left!” I shrieked.

“ _You had plenty, and yet your heart was nothing but a vacuum of darkness. Your mother_ _’s death was such a trauma, was it not? You were lost until your brother found you, and then what?_ ”

I envisioned the face of a dragon I had not seen in centuries, furious and tearful. A blast of fire. Wings turned to blurs, gone forever.

I hadn’t told a soul about that; it had been too shameful! How did she know?! The only way she could would be…if…

Squeezing my eyes shut, I screamed, “Stop it!”

“ _I healed your broken soul, you shortsighted hatchling. And when I found a dragon that you would finally open up to, a dragon that would finally make you feel loved and love once more, to soothe your wounded heart, I insured that you would succeed._ ”

 Rage consuming every scale of my body, I demanded, “ **ENOUGH!** ” Filing my wings with magic, I pushed myself to my limits, gaining altitude fast enough to make my head spin and drown out the cries of my friends below. I reached the Queen’s eye level just to see the malice in her eyes, the feral grin set upon her maw.

A Viking’s flaming sun shot past, making a heavy impact with the Queen’s throat. I filled a fireblast with as much magic as I could spare and thrust it into the same mark with a loud _CRACK!_

The Queen’s smile fell away and she flapped several times in a fluster. The smoke cleared from her scales and revealed a bleeding wound, seeping black blood and decorated with an array of cracked scales. There was a screech of a Shadow-Blender’s fire, and then another ball of blue flame struck the Queen’s temple.

It didn’t even leave a mark. Hiccup’s gasp of horror could be heard even as he swooped out of the Queen’s bite range.

With a roar the Queen opened her maw wide, a gas cloud the size of several dragons filling the back of her throat. I snapped my wings to my sides in a steep dive just as she let loose her fire, the heat of it leaving my scales burned regardless of how far away I was from the actual blast.

“ _My children!_ ” The Queen declared. “ _The goal of the Shadow-Blenders is an assassination! Aid me, so that our way of life can remain! Break free of their conspirators!_ ”

Those still under her control all but went into a savage frenzy, redoubling their efforts to break free. Even though they vastly outnumbered the slaves, our allies couldn’t hold them back! Like a raindrop bursting on the ground they spilled out of the dragon-made cage, ripping through the air towards the Queen.

_Excellent._

Another fireball flew into the Queen, this time making contact with a wing. The membranes bruised, gigantic blood vessels breaking on contact. Impossibly enough, it didn’t tear!

“Follow me!” I shouted, continuing my dive below the Queen. My team scrambled to stay on my tail as I led us below and around the Queen. “Our fire and the Vikings can’t do damage individually! We need to hit her together!”

We managed to get a glimpse of the Queen’s defenseless back and wings. She spun with the agility of a creature several times smaller, spread her wings to their fullest extent, and pulled them down with the strength of a god.

The water directly underneath her flung up as if struck by fire, and a second later a torrent tore away at us! I screamed as my wings strained against the pressure, threatening to rip out of socket! Twisting around, I faced the direction the wind was flinging us and shot far off into the distance! “Arrgh! _Damn it!_ ”

“Change of plans! Above!” Hiccup gasped as he spun past, desperately trying to maintain a stable flight path. The others weren’t faring much better, sans the elder Hum-Wing.

Another ball of fire smacked into the Queen from behind, making its mark the back of her neck. She narrowed her eyes slightly. Then, heaving in a great breath, she swept a cascade of fire down onto us!

I flew straight up, eyes widening when the fire lifted to follow me. The updraft from the intense heat threatened to fill my wings and throw me backwards, right down into the flames! Filling magic into my wings, I went further and further up, pulling myself into the pitch-black dustcloud above. The second the air cooled I curved down again, swerving around the surprised demon and catching sight of a slightly blackened section of her scales. Filling even more magic into my throat, I thrust another full blast into it.

The Queen roared, likely feeling physical pain for the first time in centuries. I smirked, a low chuckle ripping from my throat.

A loud screech— then Hiccup was there, shooting a fireball at the Queen’s wing in her moment of weakness. A deep bruise formed in his wake. The young Flame-Skin followed in his path, set ablaze, and hurtled right into the same spot, where he clawed and bit away at the damaged skin! He was going to get himself killed, the moron! Tucking my wings in, I dropped until I landed atop the Queen’s brow, the scales burning my paws on contact.

One set of three eyes widened, then squeezed shut tight as I sunk my claws and teeth in. The Queen shook her head to and fro, but I gripped my claws further into her eyes, even as liquid seeped into my mouth! The wind picked up, threatening to fill my wings and fling me away, but all she managed was to send my body sliding along her scales. I clawed and tore and shredded as much as I could, reaching out as far as my limbs would allow to get every eye!

The Queen flung her head with a massive snap, and finally I lost my grip. I yelped as I fell, wasting all of my reaction time, and twisted around to try to level myself out.

A wing the size of the nest smacked into me full-force, sending my ears ringing and my vision doubling. Not a second later a blue dragon smacked into me, angrily tearing at my wounded chest and biting at my neck!

“Get off!” I growled, smacking the ravenous puppet’s muzzle away. It was not dissuaded, and as we spiraled closer and closer to our doom, dread filled my body from nose to tailtip!

There was a deafening snarl, and something tumbled right into the dragon, tearing it away and finally freeing me! I opened my wings just above the ocean, panting from both fear and exertion.

“Are you alright?!” Hiccup said, sparing precious seconds to fly over and check for injuries.

“I’m fine! Thanks! Look out!” I rushed, looping away just as another dragon tried to dive into us! Hiccup was at my side, having mimicked me to avoid the unseen danger, and together we rose, dodging all dragons that came at us. The world was a frenzy of color and fire. Dragons presumably on our side matched our pace, only breaking free of us to ward off a slave.

In the confusion of color I managed to catch a glimpse of the Queen, slowly but surely becoming encompassed by her own personal guard. She swatted at a Two-Head whom I did not recognize, and I could do nothing but watch as I saw the bones jut out of the chest and wings upon impact, their torso crumple, and their body go limp as they dropped to the ocean. A much larger Two-Head gave a shriek and tried to catch up with their fallen comrade, but was stopped in their tracks when two _other_ dragons launched into them. The Two-Head sunk into the ocean, and after a brief bout of bubbling and rippling, the water gave no indication that they had ever been there.

Gritting my teeth at the sudden spike of dread tearing through my heart, I said, “We have to weaken her! Try to free the others again!”

“I told you, I can’t!” Frustration laced through his voice. “It’s hard enough to _keep_ her from getting the others again—I had help that first time!”

“Help?” I repeated. A dragon lunged from below and I spun midair and smacked the side of their head with a wing, disorientating them enough to get them off our tails. We breached the smokecloud, giving us a few seconds of cover from any other dragons.

“Yeah, I—“ Hiccup stopped short, eyes widening. “I know what to do! Distract her!” And before I could say anything, he was swooping back down.

With a somewhat aggravated grunt I followed, tucking my wings tight against my body. Hiccup was in the same position, aiming right for…the Queen?! What was he thinking?!

My eyes widened as realization dawned on me. The Queen caught sight of us, grinned, and spat a stream of flame as wide as a Viking nest onto us.

I swerved around and launched my third fireblast into the set of scarred and bloody eyes I’d thrown myself upon, smirking when the Queen’s fire cut off with an abrupt screech. Her eyes only opened halfway, blood seeping both into the irises and outside, and settled on me.

Her jaw snapped just out of the way, the gush of hot air from her nostrils flinging me back. I ducked under and around, taunting, “You know, for some reason I thought you’d be faster than that!” The Queen’s jaw wrinkled just a bit, and again she snapped at me, only to miss by quite a margin. I cackled at her distain, saying, “What’s the matter, you excuse for a Queen? Can’t see me?”

“ _You foolish little Shadow-Blender. Do you truly believe that you can conquer me with nothing but a small rebellion? You are nothing but a hatchling protesting to its elders—doomed to failure._ ” She opened her jaw wide, but instead of gas building in her throat, she began to deeply inhale. I had a second to realize what she was doing and desperately try to flip away, but she was too strong! I was getting sucked in!

A gray blur, a boom, and the Queen recoiled, her neck bloodied. The elder Hum-Wing hovered before me and cried, “Quickly! That was my last shot!”

We ducked away just before a horde of slaves closed in on us. A sharp whistling came from above—the sound of a Shadow-Blender in a steep dive, and I twisted around fast enough to make my stomach lurch.

Hiccup launched atop the Queen’s forehead, hammering dead center. A Viking fireball launched into her nose and she reeled back in disorientation, eyes unfocused.

The Queen screamed.

* * *

When you try to extinguish a fire, you don’t throw water on the top of it; instead, you aim all of your resources at the base, so that the flames lose their ground and disappear into the air like ghosts.

The shadow—The Queen’s magic—know exactly what I was doing. She knew exactly what I was intending, she knew exactly how increasingly difficult it had been for me to hold her back for this long, and she knew exactly how desperate I was to keep the dragons free.

She also knew that she was losing to me.

Fear and despair, panic and the heart-pounding rush of adrenaline all exploded from the shadow as I homed in on its base in the center of the Queen’s forehead, leeched into her mind, and found the ball of energy so much like my own. The emotions only grew in strength as I tried to lock it away in a cage of my own magic. I dimly heard the Queen shrieking in agony, and the rushing of wind and tension in my claws meant that she was doing her damndest to shake me off.

I kept my eyes shut in concentration, forehead pressed against hers. Toothless had tried to blind her, but I knew that she could feel and see the thoughts of every dragon, could hear every word they heard. As long as she had that, she would know any plan we developed right as the words left our mouths.

The shadow was condensing with its roots being overtaken. I imagined a sphere of my own magic enveloping over hers, beginning at the bottom and crawling to the top. It fought and bit and writhed. It tried to leap across the gap and invade my own mind, turn my power into my downfall, but I wouldn’t allow it! If the Queen remained in control of _any_ of the dragons, we would fight a losing battle.

The sphere crept further and further, and the darkness in her mind started to die off. I saw beneath it something terrible, something too horrendous to look at for too long; if I paid any more attention to it, it would drive me insane. I turned away from it.

The Queen was powerful. But she was shaken. She had just lost half of her “children” to us. She was being attacked by a large majority of it now, was bleeding for the first time in centuries, had a gaping wound in her neck that was causing her a lot more pain and difficulty breathing than she was letting on, and was facing Vikings who had no other target but her. As wise of a leader as she thought she was, she was merely a coward who stayed behind to call the shots, unable to take to the front lines without freezing in combat.

The shadow wavered; for the first time, it seemed to doubt. I pounced on it just as she would have in the past, pulling all of my reserves and strength into a single blow. The sphere enclosed fully on her own with a _SNAP!_ and the shadow dispersed, leaving behind a memory imprinted deep into her mind:

 _“You…you monstrous_ dragon! _Why would you do this to me?!”_

_“To make you superior to all and to grant you a better life, my love. Human lives are so fleeting, after all—a dragon’s suits you scores better. Why, I didn_ _’t know you had it in you, to try to defy someone like me!”_

_“My children! Oh, gods, my beloved children! Why?! Why punish_ them?! _Why not only me?”_

_“Merely distractions. You_ _’ll have more someday, I promise you. Take this as your first lesson as one of us. As the superior species.”_

I ripped my magic back and reared up like a spooked horse, shrieking! My bad leg gave out and I tumbled down the Queen’s muzzle, catching a glimpse of a wide, tearful eye before I smacked into a spine, sending me tumbling into the open sky. All around me dragons were falling, glazed eyes clearing, but when I tried to reach out to them my head filled with such pain that I saw white!

There was a deep, anguished roar from above. My vision cleared with just enough time to see a gaping maw close towards me, the teeth filling my vision.

Something rammed into me with the force of a hurricane, and an angry, blue-white ball of fire flung itself deep inside the Queen’s mouth. It exploded within and tore away at her inner throat, and I just managed to see the delicate membranes gushing sickly-black blood like a waterfall before I was pulled away!

Toothless didn’t let go until we were far out of her range, although there was no need to; the Queen coughed and spat like someone who had accidentally inhaled their water, wheezing and throwing huge globs of blood from her throat. A catapult from the ships, almost directly in front of the Queen now, headed straight for the Queen’s wing.

And cut right through, leaving a cauterized hole in its wake.

My jaw dropped. Toothless gasped. The Vikings roared in excitement. The now-freed dragons echoed them and, without needing any further explanation, came down. The Vikings doubled their catapult efforts, hurtling stone after stone at the Queen, each aimed for her wings.

A lit Flame-Skin burst through her wing membrane like they were flying through a fog, dispersing it with ease. Hum-Wings spat fireballs down on the Queen, leaving behind bloody wounds that seeped her lifeblood and gave her the appearance of leaking some form of poison from her veins. The Queen threw her head and screeched, eyes clenched, and my eyes almost deceived me into thinking that a tear was shed from her good eyes.

“You did it!” Toothless said. He laughed, butting his head against my neck. “It’s over! She doesn’t have control of them anymore! We did it—!”

The Queen twisted with all her might, dragging a single wing out and pulling every dragon in her immediate vicinity underneath her. With an unearthly howl she rose above them and spat her flames onto all the falling dragons below, the fire writhing and wild. It lasted for a full ten or so seconds and when she finally stopped, what was left behind were only the reddened, skeletal husks of our friends, motionless as they plunked into the ocean like stones.

I couldn’t breathe, staring at the spot where at least thirty dragons had just been. The Queen reeled her head back, agony and shock adorning her features in a heavy grimace. She threw her head back and gave a bellow so deafening that the world because fuzzy with disorientation. Those near her took a hasty retreat, and even the Vikings stopped with their bomb-throwing. “B-but…”

In the silence, I heard Astrid’s outraged command, “What are you waiting for?! Fire again!” Glancing down, I caught sight of Fishlegs and Ruffnut working a catapult and Astrid, Snotlout, and Tuffnut another.

The two fireballs swept across the sky. The Queen snarled at them and swung a paw, batting them back at the ship! I had only a chance to give a wordless screech, and the stones barreled through the ship, ripping a hole right through it! Opening her wings to their fullest again, the Queen forced them down and launched a blast of air at the ocean, sending a tidal wave upon the fleet.

One ship capsized, the Vikings aboard all jumping ship—some even managing to land onto another one. The water below rippled and churned, and for a brief second I saw _something_ in the water.

The world snapped back into place. “All of you, over there!” I shouted, motioning in the general direction of a large group of dragons. “Go over there and get any Vikings in the water back on a ship!” Turning to another pocket of dragons hovering and awaiting instruction, I barked, “Elders—I’ve put a block on her magic, but I’ll need your help to strengthen it! Her magic is located at her forehead—if you can reach there safely, put a layer of your own magic on top of mine! Keep her locked away!”

“ _Understood!_ ” Several dragons cried, flinging themselves upwards in preparation of diving upon the Queen.

“The rest of you—attack!” Toothless shouted. Battle cries ripped the air apart, and the entire sky filled with the sound of battle once more.

I waited to make sure the rescue party did as it was told, unable to bear the thought of Astrid, Snotlout, and the others drowning in the chaos. A Nightmare pulled its neon-yellow wings in and dove right underwater, emerging with two humans in its talons. More dragons followed its lead, until finally…

Astrid hopped to her feet, glanced at the dragon that had just saved her life, and shouted an order at them whilst pointing at the Queen. She jogged over to the vacant catapult station on the ship—the entire deck was heartbreakingly abandoned, actually—and was quickly joined by the rest of her friends as they parkoured right on over.

The Two-Walker spread its wings and shouted, “We must show the humans where to shoot, so that they do not waste their shots! Follow me!” And in a flurry of wings they were leading a flare of their own.

Satisfied, I pulled myself up into the air, preparing to launch my own attack on the Queen. Toothless swept down to fly parallel to me with ease, casting a glance down at the behemoth as other dragons circled around her. Already I could feel the strain on my magic lessen; as I had thought before, _I_ had been the only one to be able to _lock_ the Queen away. But that didn’t mean that other dragons couldn’t add onto what was, essentially, a guideline. With my magic in place, all they had to do was coat their own magic over it, and so on and so forth until the shadow was permanently locked away.

“This isn’t going to work!” Toothless shouted. “We can’t just keep shooting at her and hope she goes down!”

“What should we do, then?!” I said. “We’re doing everything we can!” I watched the Nadder from before howl , jerk its head at the Queen’s temple, and dive. Seconds later a fireball smacked into her, and her bloodied eyes went blank for a precious few seconds to allow the others to send their fury onto her vulnerable form.

Toothless stared down at the Queen, and his eyes widened. “Look,” he said, pointing at the membranes of the Queen’s wings. She regained her wits and flung them down, scattering her assailants, but I could see it from a mile away.

The sight was sickeningly familiar, bringing me back to our escape from the Kill Ring. Suddenly I was watching the hole in Toothless’ wing expand with every wingbeat, unable to do anything to help. The Queen wasn’t in nearly as much trouble, but the holes were there. If I focused just enough, I could almost imagine them growing in size.

“Stall her until she falls?” I thought aloud. “No, that’ll take forever.”

“You’re right,” Toothless said. “We need to find a way to open those, forcefully. If we can drag her down...”

Something below caught my eye—an elderly Zippleback was spinning all the way around the Queen, shooting a stream of fire upon her. The fire was odd; it almost looked like a steady stream of water, it was filled with so much magic. It stayed lit for much longer than usual, and the charred path it left behind gave proof of its searing heat. The Queen snapped at the dragon, and they pulled their wings in and let themselves fall to avoid turning into dinner.

Another wordless call from a dragon that had gone down to the ships, and several fireballs smashed into the malicious creature’s head and neck. Even as high as we were, I could hear Snotlout and Tuffnut whoop as their target hit their mark.

The Queen wheezed, shaking her head and blinking rapidly. She coughed up another mass of burnt flesh and blood. She narrowed her good eyes, a snarl ripping from her chest.

I squinted, frowning. That wound in her throat should have been cauterized when she’d released her fire; why was it only getting worse?

“What if, instead of dragging her down…we stop her in her tracks?” I said. At Toothless’ raised eyebrow, I said, “Her throat’s still hurt inside from when you hit her—she’s choking! If we can get her to overexert herself—“

“—If we get her to shoot fire more!” Toothless interrupted, grinning. “What you did to her…you blocked _all_ of her magic—she can’t heal herself! That’s why we’re able to draw blood now! If we’re able to get her to keep using her fire, she’ll strangle herself!”

“That…that might actually work!” I said. “Let’s go!”

“Wait!”

I stopped short, giving Toothless a quizzical look.

“I…” Toothless took a deep breath. “Hiccup, this is—this isn’t something I expect to come out of completely free of casualties. Especially now. So I want you to know that—that—you’re _family_. And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live without you. I mean, not like a mate! But, what I’m trying to say is, I’ve never had someone as important to me as you before and, and…” He cringed away, avoiding eye contact. “Do you…understand…?”

I smiled, the link bursting to life between us. “I love you too, Toothless.”

He returned my smile, ducking his head like a shy fledgling. “Alright. Now let’s go overthrow a dictator!” And down he went.

“Woo, so much fun,” I drawled, although I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Tucking my wings in, I let gravity do all the work and quickly caught up with my friend.

The Queen heard the sharp whistle of our dive and raised her head, teeth bared. She rose to meet us, and we swooped out of the way towards her blind side, quickly coming around from the front.

“What’s wrong, you excuse for a Queen?” Toothless taunted. He spun around her and sent a powerful fireball into her wing, leaving a massive hole in his wake. At the same time, several dragons clawed away at her, and a stone went sailing through her wing. “What, can’t see us? I wonder why? Woah!” Toothless ducked just as she swung her head around, swooping up on her other side. “I’m impressed! You almost got me!”

Her attention on Toothless, I tucked my wings against my body and poured magic into my throat. My head felt as though it had been crushed; I was using far too much magic then I should have, and the caging of the Queen’s magic had taken its toll despite the extra help. Still I shot a super-powered fireball into the Queen’s forehead, resulting in an animalistic shriek that sent the heavens scurrying.

“Gotcha,” I whispered, swinging around again.

“Oh, no! He got you!” Toothless laughed, darting back and forth in front of the Queen. She continued to jerk her head around, desperate to locate him. “Looks like you were wrong all along, _Your Majesty_! I wonder how it must feel, knowing that your children would want to kill you the second they have the opportunity? Knowing that the only reason they loved you was because it was forced?”

The Queen’s eyes flew open, veins popping, caked in blood. My heart dropped to my stomach.

And, for a moment, I only felt pity.

Toothless didn’t know it, but he had gone too far with that statement. The Queen seemed to lose all sentience, opening her wings wide and _screaming_. Sickly-green gas filled her swollen and frothing mouth and she spewed fire everywhere, twisting her body in every direction she possibly could and surrounding herself in a waterfall of flames!

The wall of fire filled my entire vision in a swath of overheated reds and oranges. I pumped my wings to go above it and follow it, wincing as it seared at my scales and underside. I followed it up and up until I shot right past it, where I corkscrewed back down.

“Toothless!” I cried, eyes darting back and forth. “Where are you?!”

I caught sight of a black figure, flames trailing behind it, and felt the world around me shatter. I pulled myself down towards him as fast as I could, desperate to catch him—!

Toothless looked up past me, eyes wide. He seemed fixated on the skies above and murmured, “I understand.”

In his claws was a small ball of flame, trailing a thin stream of embers behind it. I almost backpedaled away when I caught sight of his spinal scales—they were _glowing!_ I mean, they were literally _bright neon blue!_

Toothless looked into my eyes and I forced the link forward. Flashes of what happened filled my mind:

_An unavoidable death sentence, the resulting horror and dread, the sky and moon suddenly bright above, and the wordless voices carrying a memory—no, an ability—from the past, the crushing realization that legends could be wrong, that they had been manipulated in his mind from years of slavery._

_“Shadow-Blender. As trained in magic as you are, you have been long deceived. The magic you face now is the result of its birth, native to its own kind, and impossible for any of your species to develop as you may have believed._

_“We grant you this: not a spell for the talented or unique, but of any dragon, regardless of magic. It is connected to a dragon’s soul, a dragon’s fire. It is true mental magic, long forbidden from the chaos it has caused.”_

_And suddenly it felt as though something had clicked, like a fletchling figuring out how to angle their tailfins properly for the first time and forever having the gift of flight. The fire spreading at the speed of lightning transformed from a feral killer into a malleable substance, easily cupped inside his paws._

_“We expect that you will not abuse it, as your ancestors have in the past, lest it be taken away once again. Use it sparingly, for it will exhaust you. Use it thoughtfully, for to make it commonplace will reduce your soul to nothing. Use it wisely, for to fling it about with reckless abandon will hinder its effect, as the soul knows only truth.”_

_For a brief moment a brown Shadow-Blender filled his mind—and then the vision dispersed._

I glanced up and saw the moon and sun side-by-side, each as bright as the other. They seemed to be directly over Toothless.

“Pass this knowledge on!” Toothless commanded, sending over his memory of how he manipulated the flames like clay in his claws. I felt the same course of magic, the way he focused it _within_ the fire, the way he understood that it was the Queen’s and mine abilities were a weak form of mental magic, and that this was its true and full glory—something long-forgotten, after the gods decided that Sphere was too dangerous.

 “Wha—how?” I stammered, still in shock at the memories—at what their implications were. Mental magic, long forbidden? So mine and the Queen’s were…completely unique? Our own brand of mental magic?

“I know you can have the same control over us as the Queen,” Toothless drew me back to reality. “I felt it when you freed them the first time. If you can speak to us as the Queen did, then you can show them how to do this!”

My heart dropped. I looked down at the Queen, who had yet to locate us and was furiously batting away at both catapult stones and dragons. I _wasn_ _’t_ like her! I _couldn_ _’t_ be like her! We may have more similarities than previously thought—but this was pushing it. This was stepping into a river with a strong current and expecting not to be swept away by it.

“Toothless, I—there’s something about her you don’t know, and it’s _really_ kinda relevant—“

The Queen inhaled deeply and swept her flame upon the ocean’s surface, trailing it over any dragon in her strike range.

The Viking ships, now far too close, caught fire. A few in the back escaped the Queen’s wrath—but that was little comfort. I choked, envisioning my father engulfed in the flames, Snotlout and Astrid and the others diving onto another ship for cover only to be just as doomed as before.

My magic snapped out like a whip, reaching out to all the dragons that I had freed and kept safe from the shadow. There were some additions—not as much as before, but enough to make me pause and clench my eyes shut at the sudden spike of pain their presence caused. With grit teeth I took Toothless’ memory and brought it upon them, showing them what to do—and how to do it.

As uncoordinated as we were right now, we had no chance; but if we all attacked at once…

The message passed on and I pulled away with revulsion, shaking my head at the disorientation. “Ugh…did it work?”

One dragon nearby breathed a slow, steady stream of fire, eyes squeezed in concentration, and flew above it to intercept. They sunk their claws into it like it was solid and twisted, and their dorsal scales lit to life in a faint reddish glow reflecting their fire. The flames obediently followed beneath them. Another dragon followed suit, and another, and another…

Below us, others were flitting above the Viking ships, taking in the destruction. I dropped in the air, eyes darting back and forth. Dragons were diving upon the Vikings, plucking them from the water and carrying them over to the undamaged ships. I banked over as fast as I could, pulling into a hover over the large crowd clustered onto the few vessels that had been lucky enough to avoid the Queen.

My eyes met those of the same color, and I almost stumbled out of the air in relief.

 “Go, Hiccup!” Dad shouted. “A little fire won’t hurt us!”

“Don’t I know it!” I shot back, grinning. Sparing one last glance at my father, I twisted around and sped off, condensing gas into my throat and flicking my igniter. A stream of fire spewed from my mouth ahead of me.

The magic was…odd. It struggled against my will at first, but grudgingly complied once I focused. Then, like diving into cold water, it was easy. A chill went up my spine as I pulled my fire in, and I turned around to see a faint bluish glow adorning my spines. It wasn’t nearly as bright as the other dragons’—but it was there. To be honest, it looked pretty badass. With a proud smile I pedaled my wings, flinging myself up and towards the others. While I had only detoured for less than a minute, almost all of the dragons in the air were holding flames in their claws, eyes reflecting the sparks, spines giving off impossible light.

The Queen paused, appalled. She swept her head back and forth, doing her best to take in what was happening around her with her damaged eyesight. Fear began to bloom across her face, and she rose higher into the air, baring her teeth and growling defensively. “ _You dare bring forth soulfire in battle?!_ ” She roared. _“Do you wish to destroy yourselves?!_ _It is futile, and hidden by the gods for a reason! It is not to be trifled with! It is sin to be weaponized!_ ”

“Have you realized your defeat?” Toothless shouted from off to my right. “Your reign is over! You’re going right back where you belong—the Prebirth!” He nodded at me and rose to catch up with the Queen, dragging his fire out behind him like a ribbon. I flung myself up after him, looking down at the path of fire left behind in my wake, how it curled in the air for long seconds before dispersing. Side-by-side, we began to bank around the Queen, our fires merging into one.

The young Flame-Skin bolted to my right, beaming like it was his birthday. Then the elder Hum-Wing joined Toothless’ side, and the rest of the Hum-Wings, and then the Two-Heads and Two-Walkers, until all fourteen dragons of our flare had joined together to form a thick blanket of fire behind us. More and more dragons joined, spinning around and around the Queen at random intervals from each other.

The heat was unlike any other I’d seen, and my vision filled with flames. The others, being fireproof and not half-fireproof as I was, had no problem sweeping into other trails of fire to close the gaps, and I had to force myself to stay put instead of fleeing. The burn on my shoulder flared to life, sending agony rocketing down my arm. My limbs began to quake, and my body seemed to gain an entire mountain’s worth of weight all at once. The use of the magic was already taking its toll!

The Queen growled at swung a wing out into the egg-shaped wall of fire in an attempt to disperse it, only to gasp and recoil.

The last of the dragons joined the attack, and the Queen was engulfed in a sphere of fire. She wheezed and croaked, twisting and turning in an attempt to find a way out and meeting only the hateful stares of her “children” and the fire they had trapped her within. She tried to bring in air for her fire—air that was suddenly thin and impossible to breathe in—and managed to spit out a tiny, pitiful flame that dispersed before it even got a winglength ahead of her.

The Queen stumbled midair, losing her altitude in a sudden drop and eyes fluttering. She couldn’t breathe, I realized!

“ _No…no…!_ ”

Toothless broke off into the sphere, spines dimming back to normal, and I was right at his side. Releasing the magic left me as tired as the gods had stated. The inside was more scalding than the interior of the nest, and in the distorted air of the heat I saw burns rippling across the Queen’s scales like colonies of insects. It took less than five seconds to pull into hovers in front of the Queen, yet already it was difficult to breathe; I knew if I stayed within the sphere for too much longer, I’d pass out.

“ _Please, I have only loved you. My children—_ ”

“We are not your children.” Toothless’ voice was small compared to the fire, but still carried as if he’d been screaming. He opened his jaw wide, green gas emerging within.

“And we never replaced yours,” I finished.                                      

Together we shot two unaided plasma blasts at the Queen’s forehead. The heavenly-white fires merged into one and exploded with enough strength to nearly send me reeling.

Inside the cage I had placed it in, the shadow writhed and flailed. The Queen pulled her wings down with all her might, desperate to disperse the flames surrounding her.

The sound of ripping flesh that followed would not soon leave me. Toothless and I met her eyes as they widened, pupils slitting. She looked down at the holes, finally realizing how plentiful they were, how they peppered her wings with large and small openings alike.

In her distraction Toothless and I swooped low, steadying our flames. The combined fireball hit the Queen’s forehead right where it had last time.

For the briefest moment, the shadow disappeared. A high-pitched wheeze flew from the Queen’s throat, her body tilted, and she pawed uselessly at the air. Eyes fluttering, her wings stopped altogether.

She plummeted.

* * *

And in that moment, everything is perfect.

Time stops around me, and it almost feels as if I’m the only one still aging while the rest of the world remains stuck in place. I watch from the outside, an observer instead of a participant in reality. I swing my head, confused. Even Hiccup seems to have shifted into a statue.

I turn away from him, unable to bear the sight. The Queen is falling like the dethroned tyrant she is, facing a death under the ocean—a place no god can reach her soul, where she would soon suffer an eternity of pain. The soulfire is still present around us, pulsing with the life of every dragon of the nest, with the rage and determination to put this tragedy to an end. The Vikings below, despite having half of their floating trees destroyed, are still as stubborn and alive as usual. Despite all of the chaos, it seems almost harmonic.

I look up as the egg-like sphere breaks open after what seems to be years, although I know it merely took a few seconds. My eyes meet the sight of the sun and moon directly above.

With a soft smile I offer up a grateful, tired prayer. The gods really were on our side—it took them long enough to intervene, but better late than never, I suppose. All that matters now is that it’s over. After all these years, after all of this manipulation and pain, it’s finally over. Hiccup and I would finally, _finally_ live peaceful lives, free of suffering and fear. It would be a difficult road, of course, but not nearly as strenuous as what we had just finished. _Nothing_ could overcome that.

It is then that I am the happiest I have ever been. The battle wounds and burns and soreness of my entire being, a side-effect of the rediscovered soul-magic, are afterthoughts. What are a few scratches here and there? A quick nap will have me feeling as refreshed as ever. I have nothing but a life with Hiccup—a life with _family_ — to look forward to. I wouldn’t dare ask for more. I wouldn’t _want_ more.

I close my eyes in bliss. My weary soul finds itself resting, no longer burdened with regret and sorrow and loneliness, after years of bearing a heavy heart.

And all of that crumbles to pieces when I hear him scream.

* * *

My guard had dropped.

I had allowed a grin to slide across my face for just a second before the shadow reawakened, striking out at me with all its might. With a gasp I clutched my head, squinting down to see the sphere broken, cracked, as the enormous monster fell through. The Queen held her wings out uselessly, the holes growing so rapidly I thought there’d be none left.

Her eyes met mine. The shadow pulsed with violent energy, and with a twist so fast she became a blur, the Queen rolled midair, holding a wing out straight—!

The impact was as painful as the one I had experienced with the sea dragon. I all but felt my chest compress, my air leaving me, and for a moment the world blackened. An agonized scream ripped from my throat—I heard Toothless fire his last shot—felt the wind rushing past me—

“ _You too, my child,_ ” the Queen whispered. “ _Our kind leaves this world together._ ” Her voice was startlingly close. I managed to clear my sight enough to see that I was falling beside the Queen, to see her wings reduced to nothing but bones with tattered membranes flapping in the wind.

With a jolt I straightened myself out, opening my wings to fly away. I managed to catch an updraft and twist around, glimpsing Toothless in a dive above, his eyes wide with terror. He opened his mouth and screamed something.

The world collapsed into agony.

It stemmed from my crippled leg, bolts of lightning finding purchase in my veins and using them to pulse throughout my body. I felt as though my blood had been set aflame, melting my flesh and organs from the inside out. I screeched and pumped my wings despite the feeling that they were not there, but I couldn’t stop falling! My body swung violently to the side, and just as I heard something massive hit water I realized:

The Queen was dragging me down.

The ocean closed in on me, bringing with it the view of the murky depths, of the creatures within that swirled around us. The fire burned at my heart, ate away at my body! The shadow rammed and rammed at the cage, and with a final, titanic burst it broke through not only my magic but those of the elders, sending long needles piercing through my head. It completely enclosed itself on my magic and fled back to its source.

I felt my scales ripping away, felt my bones snapping. My wings flapped uselessly at the water as they shriveled up like dying plants under the glaring sun, the bone and flesh crumpling into little balls that seared as though I were being cooked alive. I floundered uselessly at the water in a desperate struggle, watching the scales of my legs bulge like boils and then shrivel, watching my claws crack like shattered glass, watching as bones in my wrist and elbow literally snapped, leaving bulges in their wake.

I screamed again, thrashing in a wild attempt to be set free, to end the torment! I could _feel_ the organs shifting in my torso in rapid jerks, the way my appendages felt as though they were being compressed into balls, how my body bent and twisted as though it was made of clay!

A loud ringing filled my ears. All of my strength fled me, leaving me with limp limbs that refused to move. I managed to twitch a front leg, and something unfamiliar drifted in front of me—something not the color of scales but simply dotted with them, something much smaller.

And right past the horrible, world-shattering sight were eyes. Hundreds of eyes stared back at me. My oxygen-deprived mind, so caught up on trying to figure out what that _thing_ where my paw should be was, couldn’t figure out what exactly that meant.

The water rushed past in a flurry of bubbles, and the Queen jerked below me. Once more pain ripped through my lower body, but this time it was distant.

Everything seemed to just…fade away. I dragged my head back and forth until I saw a figure standing far off to the side. He was a human, short and skinny. He stood atop something that looked like glass cracked in the exact shape of a jigsaw puzzle, each piece snug against the other. Confused, I glanced down and was startled by the sight of the pieces below me, as well.

When I swung my head up again, the human was replaced by two blood-red canines whose eyes shimmered with the light of heavenly bodies. They each lifted a paw—one the left, the other the right—and stomped them against the puzzle. The pieces withered and shifted, falling into the abyss below. I could only gasp as the ground below gave out.

I looked up to the sky for guidance, so far above me, and still managed to see the dim figures of the sun and moon. Their images rippled and distorted, something flew towards me in the water, and in the confusion and flurry of bubbles the  lime green eyes stretched wide, filling my vision with emotion and memories and pleas as the world dimmed and detached itself from me until I saw a deep, endless darkness, and then  nothing at all.

* * *

I clutched him to my heart and held on with all of my might.

The sea dragon, still struggling to hold that filthy wretch down, glanced up at me with his many eyes. With agonizingly slow movements he lifted a fin and brought it underneath us, lifting us up. The speed through the water we were moving was almost painful, but it still wasn’t fast enough!

We breached the surface and I gave a huge gasp for air. Hiccup did not.

“Oh, gods. Oh, Dragoness of the Moon! Hiccup? Hiccup!” I gave as gentle a shake as I could, so afraid that the slightest nudge would break him. It had been over a full season’s turn since I had seen him like this; it didn’t seem real. This creature before me _couldn_ _’t_ be Hiccup. Hiccup was a Shadow-Blender!

The limp human in my arms was enough to prove me wrong. “Hiccup, please!”

He remained as white as death. His little chest barely rose up and down, and his thin eyelids didn’t so much as twitch. His eyes were half-open, but unfocused and dim. The sight of his left leg gushing blood like nothing I’d ever seen sent my head buzzing with terror.

Gripping him to my chest, I lifted my sore wings and launched myself into the air. I couldn’t help but shoot an accusing glare up at the sun and moon, which were now moving apart from each other. They had promised me victory. They had told me that the Queen’s tyranny must end.

They had not told me that there would be a price. I would have never accepted their gift if they had.

I looked down at the limp, tiny form of my friend in my embrace and clenched my eyes shut. “Never,” I whispered.

The humans’ contraptions were almost completely wiped out—it was only through sheer luck that the Queen’s wrath hadn’t reached all of them. I swooped over the crowded floating-trees, casting my eyes over every occupant before landing as gently as I could, standing on three legs and cradling Hiccup in my right leg. The crowd parted, and a more bitter part of me wished that they had shown the kind of respect a Shadow-Blender deserves _before_ all of this had happened.

“ _Out of my way!_ ” The King roared, knocking all who dared to block his path aside. I reared up on my hind legs and handed Hiccup into his paws as carefully as I could. The King’s eyes widened as he took in the state of his son—and now I saw that scars marred his entire body, fresh burns from this battle and those previous, including the huge burn across his shoulder. Even his ribcage was jutting out in a harsh shadow across his skin, despite him having been a healthy—albeit skinny—dragon before. “Give me a fire!”

Before I could process what he meant, someone had handed him a piece of dead wood with a flame attached to it. The King held up what was left of Hiccup’s leg and pressed the fire into it.

The sound of his skin and muscle sizzling and popping under the cauterization was agonizing to hear. Hiccup didn’t so much as flinch. The King threw aside the fire, leaving behind a horribly-burned stump that, thank the gods, wasn’t bleeding anymore. He shook Hiccup as I had, running his paws over his face before his skin turned a color almost identical to his son’s.

“What are you waiting for?!” I demanded. “ _Do something!_ ” I glanced down at Hiccup. His chest was barely rising now. If I strained my hearing, I could hear his heart beat with the frailty of insect wings. But it wouldn’t last!

If Hiccup’s father understood my words, he did not react to them. He held the pale, fragile, thin little creature that was Hiccup in his arms and stared. He stared and stared. His green eyes, so much like Hiccup’s, were trained on his face, with its half-open eyes, messy fur, and blue lips. And he stared. And stared.

And he _did. Nothing._

“ ** _Do something!_** ” I howled, rising up on my back legs and slamming my front feet into the “ground”. The wood below me splintered, and for a split second I feared we would sink. But nobody stirred after my pathetic temper tantrum, nobody seemed to be able to look me in the eye, nobody moved to help him at all. I scanned the crowd, found a familiar face, turned to him. “Snotlout, _please!_ ”

His eyes were locked on his kin. His friends, including ‘Astrid’, were at his side with similarly devastated expressions. They, too, followed their idiotic leader’s example and stayed right where they were.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head and backing up. This wasn’t happening. This _couldn_ _’t_ be happening! We had defeated the Queen! We had freed all of the dragons of the region from their slavemaster! We had convinced the humans to trust us, to lead the way down a peaceful path!

I swung my head up to the sun and moon. “Is this what you want?!” I shrieked. “Is this what we deserve? What _he_ deserves?! The Queen was _your_ fault! _You_ could have stopped her at any time you desired!” I unsheathed my teeth to their fullest and screamed, “Is this some divine punishment?! Take all I have! All of it! But don’t punish him!”

If there was an answer, I couldn’t see it. The dragons hovering above shrunk away. The young Flame-Skin was the only one who bothered to come down and land beside me. He held his forehead to my neck, giving off a sad rumble.

You know what? Fine! I didn’t need help from the humans. I didn’t need the traitorous gods, either. I would use their fake “gift” against them, to show them just how much of a folly they had enacted. Shrugging the Flame-Skin off, I stepped towards Hiccup and his father. The King met my eyes, and despite having seen him just before the battle, he seemed to have aged decades.

I gestured with my head at the wood, tapping it with my paw. It took him a second, but the King set Hiccup down and backed up, eying me warily. I placed a paw on his chest, in the exact place I had when I’d transformed him, took in a deep breath, and concentrated.

The soul-magic would not come. Those awful deities had told me that it was connected to fire, but I didn’t realize they’d meant it _literally!_ The _last_ thing I was going to do was burn him more than he already was!

I had little of my normal magic to spare, but I didn’t care. I would choose forever-sleep if I had to. Terrified and frustrated and betrayed all at once, I pulled all of the magic from my reserves and pumped it straight into Hiccup’s heart, begging his body to accept it! I felt the magic swirl and the little organ gave a tiny flutter, but that was it. Nothing else.

“ _Gods damnit!_ ” I sobbed, flinging energy I didn’t have into his body. It wasn’t working. Gods, it wasn’t working! I didn’t have enough magic left! I’d used it all in the battle!

“Let me help!” The Flame-Skin yelped. He must have bounded forward, because suddenly the air around me became tense and the humans in my peripherals raised their weapons. Honestly, as appreciated as the help was, I doubted there was anything he could do without causing more harm.

Revival magic was…delicate…

A hint of doubt awoke in my heart, and with as soft growl I ripped it to shreds. _No!_ I thought. _I_ _’m_ not _giving up!_

Again I searched through every vein, every muscle, every _particle_ of my body for a stray hint of magic. What came up was heartbreakingly small, but I pushed it forward with all of my might, fuelling it with emotion to strengthen it. _Beat,_ I commanded! _You will not die today!_

My head spun, my vision became blurred and unfocused. I felt the world sway underneath me and my legs turn rickety, sending me collapsing to the ground. In the distortion I managed to make out the King, stooping down and pressing his ear to his son’s chest.

My own felt hollow. I had never tried to channel magic through something that couldn’t act as a receptor—but I didn’t have to in order to know what it felt like. I had heard tales from other dragons in the aftermath of particularly lethal battles and heartbreaking accidents. The King raised his head and met my eyes, and I felt everything I knew come apart, as if a stray stick had been pulled from a fragile bird’s nest and sent it falling in pieces to the earth below.

“I’m sorry,” I wept as consciousness faded, as the forever-sleep took its hold of me. Already I could feel my limbs growing numb, my body struck with an internal earthquake, the slowing of my own heart; it would be over soon. “Oh, Dragoness of the Moon, _I_ _’m so sorry._ ”

The darkness began to close in, but before it completely overtook me I caught a glimpse of the horror before me. Hiccup, my brother, my one reason to look forward to a tomorrow, was held by his mourning father. His skin was the color of fresh-fallen snow, his lips that of sapphire, his eyes coated in a gentle fog. He lay still.

Dead.


	16. Chapter 16

A howl ripped the air apart into thousands of pieces. The dragon’s call was taken up by its comrades as they lifted their heads to the heavens and begged them to heed their call. Every voice rose to the sun and moon, every throat strained with the strength of its volume.

Every dragon, that is, except one. He lied still on the soaked wood of a deck, his once-black scales taken on the ashen gray of death. His half-open eyes were clouded.

The humans aboard their ships looked up at the dragons’ song of mourning. Some drew weapons. Others merely shook their heads. One never let its eyes wander from the pale figure in its arms, as if staring at an unmoving chest and still heart could force life to reawaken.

The two canines, unseen by all, sat with rigid backs beside the two who had sacrificed their lives for the protection of both humans and dragons. As one they rose to their feet, crimson fur rippling like a river of blood. With the silence of ghosts the smaller approached the dragon that lay with broken scales and failed organs. It took a moment to stop, considering.

“They wish for them to live,” the larger observed, suddenly beside the smaller.

The smaller leaned down, its muzzle millimeters away from the dead eye of the dragon. “I have heard such pleas more than once.” This drew a chuckle, but an angry flick of its tail quieted the other.

The screams of the freed dragons above filled the air, yet the ship was as silent and calm as the night. The humans all returned their eyes to the dead human and dragon, one by one. They watched the offspring of lighting and death itself fade from their world with nothing but a soft gasp of defiance.

The canine pushed the dragon’s eye closed with her muzzle, offering a short lick to his forehead. “You did well,” it soothed. It closed its eyes and inhaled deeply, opening its own soul to welcome and guide that of the dragon. It took some coaxing—the dragon was strong-willed, even in death—and when it was done there was no physical change. The canine twisted its head towards the human, took a hesitant step forward…

“Stop,” the larger said. “You know he has other deities.”

“I see none about us. His soul will rot.”

“Their ways are different from ours.” This was growled, and when the smaller canine turned to its companion, it stared into the face of a dragon. With a soft grunt of disapproval it let ripples slide across its body until it— _she_ , rather—regained her preferred form.

“You cannot take him from his own gods,” her counterpart affirmed. “It is not just. He looked to us for but a passing of the seasons, and no more.”

She twined her neck and stooped so that her snout was just in front of the creature in question. The human holding him had its head ducked, tears streaming down its face in a torrent as it sobbed apologizes that were not heard. The dead human did not have a soul that she had ever handled before, dragon or human…and there was a slight anomaly in him. There was a fraction, a millionth of a fraction, that was not human nor dragon…but different. In-between.

“I fear they have not accepted him,” she confessed, turning back to her companion. “He has long been dead. We saw such ourselves when we ventured below the ocean. Would the gods of the humans be so cruel to wait? We may be all that comes to him.”

He paused to consider this. With a sage shake of his head, he said, “You have indeed done this more than once.”

She turned to the human and sealed her eyes, resting her head on his torso. With a deep inhale she opened her soul to his and called out to him. The human offered as much resistance as the dragon, yet still welcomed her embrace.

She lifted her head to her full height, towering over the human contraptions and flock of dragons. Below, the dragons still begged to them to bring the two fallen heroes back. They called out to her by name, and each cry was like a claw through her heart. Too young, these ones. Too soon.

As always, her companion was ever-difficult to read. He gazed at her with eyes of stone. “What shall we do?”

The first hints of anger began to bloom across her muzzle. “What is there to do? They cannot survive, not with these injuries they have sustained. They will be free, unburdened…together.” She leveled her eyes with his, taking in the calculating glint in his eyes.

“Together,” he repeated. He frowned. “I believe they have earned the honor to be together once more, yes.”

She eyed him warily, turning her head so that the moon in her eye socket faced him directly. He had not spoken of such things for countless millennium. “You dare defy the order?” Her tone carried a hidden message:

_You know what happened last time._

He bowed his head, humbled. “I wish for them not to face such a bitter end.”

“It is life,” she whispered. “You must distance yourself—your emotions play no part here, no matter how much both of us wish.”

He snorted angrily. “Our last interference was with the dragon named Sphere,” he said.

She craned her head down, taking in a deep scar upon her chest. “I remember,” she grunted dryly.

“Sphere was not like them.”

“Sphere influenced their actions nonetheless. The fake sun they made is proof enough of that.”

He fixed her with a look. “Do you believe them to act as he did?”

She raised a lip, bearing her teeth. “You are asking me to give life to the dead.”

“Yes,” he said. He leaned in to her eye level. “It is all we can do to repay our debts.”

The dragons still continued their song of sorrow.

Her eyes found themselves wandering to the human and dragon, the unlikely pair that had ended a war with their own deaths. She felt his eyes burning into her, daring her to do the right—or wrong—action.

She ducked her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she exhaled, her form slithered away like smoke pulled back by wind.

* * *

There was a great nothingness.

I had felt something like this before—long ago, when my mind was wrenched from my grasp, when I’d become a slave through and through. That had had holes in it, though; the eternal damnation had been induced, a trick to force me to accept the Queen as my mother. It had been based on lies.

And I had not been alone in it.

I knew to expect the same results for the true reality was an incredibly vast thing to do, but still I waited. Somewhere along the way I had lost my body and forgotten what it had looked like, yet I imagined myself sitting neatly anyways. Something would come up. At least, I hoped it would.

Or was this what forever-sleep was? The magic of a dragon is the extension of the soul—the Queen’s long era was proof of that. With soul-magic offering no escape and all of my regular magic gone, wasted away into a dead body…

…I couldn’t move, but still managed to shake the thoughts off. It was a horribly selfish thing to do. It was my fault, after all, what had happened to Hiccup. Now I cursed myself for my foolishness, for my inability to have the courage to say those three simple words to him that I had wanted to say before he’d died: _I love you._

No, instead I’d blubbered like an idiot and then fled when the shame became too much. He, of all dragons, would have appreciated the sentiment, and yet I’d still been childishly embarrassed.

Selfish. Foolish. _Disgusting._

“We would not say so.”

The words boomed around me and swept through the nothingness like a shockwave. I felt the ripple wrack against my newly-forming body, blinking eyes rapidly and holding my wings out, sure I was about to fall. A gasp escaped me when, instead, I simply floated where I was. It was like I was suspended in the deep waters of the ocean. Just to make sure, I glanced up.

And _He_ gazed down at me.                                                                                            

My body froze at the sight of Him. He was nothing like I’d imagined. Nothing at all. I had expected something great and glorious—but this…this was beyond my mere mortal imagination. This was _more._ In His deep pupils I saw the creation of the world, of law, of destruction. He was as still as a continent, and yet I knew that he could so much as twitch and send the entire world as it was known crumbling to pieces.

A soft chuckle came from behind. I was reluctant at first to take my eyes off of Him, but managed a swift glance of my shoulder.

All I saw was a single, slender leg, but I knew it was Her.

Overwhelmed, I did the only thing I could think of: I dropped to whatever it was I was standing on, spread my wings out, and pressed my forehead down in between my legs. “My King, my Queen,” I murmured.

“Rise, young Shadow-Blender.”

I did as I was told, but held my head low and eyes downcast. I was a mortal; I did not _deserve_ to see these holy beings. No matter how angry with them as I had been before…it was foolish to think that they hadn’t known what they were doing. That everything hadn’t been part of some sort of plan.

“You are correct, Shadow-Blender,” came His voice.

“And you are right to feel as you have,” She finished in the same breath.

I held still, contemplating. Eventually I settled on, “What happened?”

There was a small pause, and then She said, “You have succeeded in your mission, and have earned yourself a long, peaceful rest.”

“Forever-sleep,” I sighed. Somehow I had hoped… upon seeing them…but no. They were only here to see me off.

“Do not fear yet, Shadow-Blender,” He said. “Once in a thousand generations do we place ourselves before mortals who are worthy. We have heard your prayers and felt your sorrow. Indeed, you are a dragon that has experienced much to despair.”

I stared at my feet in confusion, eyes wide. What was happening?

In Her ever-gentle voice, She soothed, “We have a solution, Shadow-Blender. It is one of many. It is neither right nor wrong.” She waited for a response. When I could come up with none, as shocked as I was, she continued, “We may save you and your brother, but a price must be made in return.”

My claws unsheathed, and I felt my teeth slide out of their sockets. I swung my head up, only to flinch back when I saw both of Them before me, Their eyes boring into mine…the moon swirling in place of Her left eye…

Steeling myself, I said as calmly as I could, “ _Why_ must there be a payment?” I narrowed my eyes. “Why couldn’t he have been pushed away from the Queen before she grabbed him? Why couldn’t she have never ruled at all, to stop her from getting so powerful?” Opening my wings, I cried, “Why couldn’t you have saved him?”

They gazed down at me, expressionless. I envisioned myself as a hatchling whining to its mother. Ducking my head down again, I gasped, “Forgive me.”

“You have felt betrayal, Shadow-Blender,” He said. His voice took on a knowing tone, and he went on, “We know of the influence of emotions, how they seize the mind.” His counterpart gave a short laugh, something like a snicker, and despite the fact that _I_ was the one being spoken to, I felt as though I was eavesdropping on a conversation between good friends. “You know, as well.”

“Yes, my King.”

“You have proven yourself worthy.” My ear twitched at Her voice; suddenly it was closer. “We come to you, Shadow-Blender, and offer you an…escape.”

I risked a glance up, and almost shrunk away at how close She had leaned in. A gentle smile was upon Her face, while He looked stern. “An escape?” I repeated. Unable to bear it, I raised my head to meet their gazes.

“We may turn time over,” He said. “We may make these events that have caused you so much pain never happen.”

She continued, “In the past once more, both of you shall live. Memories of these times will flow away forgotten, and it will be so that you do not repeat your actions that set the path you have tread, but instead lead a different life. A new life.”

It took everything I had not to raise my lip at them.

“So…what you are saying is…” I rolled it over in my head once more, just to make sure I knew. “You want to erase this—erase _us?_ ”

“No…you misunderstand Our intent. You will live, as will your brother,” She answered. “But I make this clear: you will not remember. You will not meet as you know now.”

“So it won’t be _us._ As we are now…we’ll die. And everyone else, too!” I stood up taller and demanded, “What is the point of all of this, then? You know how much we suffered! Why let it happen if you just planned on making it _not_? Why make us your precious little heroes, come to us and give us aid in battle, let us _die_ , and _then_ put us back in the past and have us none the wiser?” A thought occurred to me, and my throat constricted. With barely enough strength, I said, “Has this already happened?! Have we been playing this over and over at your whim?”

They did not respond, expressions indecipherable. Giving a dark laugh, I said, “And this isn’t much of a choice, is it? I felt forever-sleep take hold of me. It’s either do this, or die. There are no more solutions.”

They exchanged a short glance, and His stern frown twisted into something more reproachful, something angry. I didn’t care anymore, though. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair and They had _used_ us.

“I don’t have the right to make this decision,” I went on. I turned away from them, placing them on my side, and began to pace. It was a bad habit I’d picked up from…Hiccup. “I’m tired of pretending that I’m a god. Of  acting as though I know all the answers, that only _I_ am right, and playing with the lives of other creatures like they’re…like they’re just toys to me. I should have never written off humans as waste of the earth, like my being a dragon automatically made me better than them. I had no right to do what I did to Hiccup. I had no right to dictate over him afterwards like he was beneath me, to force him to do as I desired, to…to make him come to the nest. This so-called ‘solution’…” I stopped abruptly, twisting my neck to take Them in. “It’s even worse.

“I can’t make this decision for Hiccup. I can’t decide his fate. I did that once, and _it. Killed. Him._ And now, not only would I _again_ be forcing my desires upon his life, but also on every single creature we’ve come in contact with. The dragons, the humans…even the Queen. I’m not going to make that mistake again. Not without so much as asking for their permission. And I’m not going to kill them all for the sake of two lives.

“I’m not going to be selfish again. And I know that…Hiccup….Hiccup wouldn’t want this either. He would rather die and leave the Queen defeated than go back and have her live, forcing the nest to be her slaves once more, just so that we can _possibly_ be together again.”

I faced them fully, lifting my head high and raising my wings and tail. Taking a moment to pierce my eyes into theirs, I proclaimed:

“As will I. I refuse.”

They were both very quiet. Then, He thundered, “And this is your final decision?”

I didn’t waver this time. “Yes. I choose death. Maybe it will finally lead to the peace that Hiccup strove so hard for.”

His harsh gaze seemed to fall away. “The world is not as incapable of change as you believe, Shadow-Blender.”

A strange numbness began to fill my limbs, creeping up from my claws like small insects. I looked down and recoiled in horror at seeing them translucent, as though I had become a ghost. The transparency continued to sweep through my body, and soon it was fading from sight. The strange world I was in began to drift off as well—or was that simply because my eyes were suffering the same fate?

Deafened and nearly blind, I swung my head up to meet Them. With a knowing smile He leaned down and wrapped his neck around me.

I could still feel my heart hammering, even as my entire body seemed to dissipate and my vision flickered away like dust blown in a strong wind. We stared into each other’s eyes until mine no longer existed, and all that I was left was a heart thumping strong, in both fear and excitement at what was to come.

I wondered if Hiccup would have done the same. I tried to bring his memory to life within what was left of me, to have the last of my essence filled with something joyful, with love.

My heart stopped not a moment later.

* * *

The last of the Shadow-Blender—or Toothless, as he had been affectionately called by his brother, and his brother alone—gave way. A child he was in body, indeed. But in mind—how he had grown. How he had learned.

The embodiment of the sun lifted his head and closed his eyes, as though listening to something far away.

“Well done, Shadow-Blender.”

And, some time before, during, and later, his counterpart mirrored his posture and said with a perplexed, relieved grin…

“Well done, Human.”

* * *

With a jolt stronger than lightning, I was thrown from unconsciousness into a hazy, unfocused place that I could not recognize.

I was on a hard, flat surface that was moving, sliding through the air as if it were flying. There were paws— _human_ paws, if their long, slender claws were any indication—resting atop me. They gripped at my sides, my legs, even my neck. I tried to lift my head to growl at them, but found that I’d barely the strength to fully open my eyes.

The King swept past me, his long, distorted movements leaving trails that resembled a soul fleeing its own body. He held a precious little bundle in his arms.

“ _OUT OF MY WAY!_ ”

The roar was enough to send other humans scattering. I wanted to watch, but my eyes were already drifting closed.

“ _MOVE! HE_ _’S STILL ALIVE!_ ”

I knew something important resonated in those words, that I should fight to stay awake.

But I was so, so very tired.

* * *

The crowd inside Town Hall was, for once, quiet.

The Chief had run fast as lightning to the Elder’s house and had yet to return. My friends and I had tried to follow, but were given a stern lecture from Belch not a second later that right now was not the time for sticking our noses into the “situation”. All of Berk had gathered inside Town Hall, awaiting news of…anything, really.

Already rumors were being spread like tiny fish darting through shallow water. Stories of a dragon as large as the sky, of Hiccup telepathically collapsing every dragon, of Hiccup and the Night Fury defeating it with a vast flaming ball in the sky that cracked like an egg as the demon fell into the ocean.

But even tales as impressive as those were pushed under the most important question of all: why had all of the dragons come to Berk?

Even now I could hear their claws scratch across the roof, the fluttering of wings, the occasional grunt or hiss. The entire nest had followed the group of twelve that had stuck by Hiccup and the Night Fury’s side, and _those_ dragons had followed the ships.

Now every single one of them had decided that they were going to hang out in Berk.

I sighed, running a hand over my head. We had manned two catapults, scoring quite a few hits on that monster—including the blow that ultimately ended in its destruction.  Still, it was hard not to feel empty inside.

“You alright, Astrid?” Ruffnut asked, throwing me back to the present with a shove. She looked just as worn as the rest of us.

I nodded, pretending not to notice the unimpressed look that got me. “Yeah. You guys doing alright?”

They all grunted some half-lies. Snotlout kept on glancing over his shoulder at the door, and Fishlegs was tapping his fingers so fast they were blurred. Ruff and Tuff leaned on each other.

It just felt like…there wasn’t anything to say anymore.

Hiccup had been right. All along, he had been right. If anything, the dragons peacefully awaiting outside were proof that they had been forced into attacking our villages.

And we had been responsible for almost every single one of his near-death experiences.

Milling on the past wasn’t an option, though. Now we knew what we had done wrong—we knew that the two-headed snake wasn’t Hiccup but ourselves, that we had let our emotions take hold of us too tightly to see reason. Now we had to work on setting things right.

Hiccup and the Night Fury were both at death’s door. For several terrifying minutes on that ship, neither of them had taken in a single breath, growing colder by the second. Then both of them _revived_ , as crazy as it sounded. Yet neither had awoken since they’d fallen into comas on the ships.

Only an idiot would pretend that they would be alright. The possibility that we would have to carry on without them was frighteningly real. I’d be damned if I let that get in my way of making things right, though.

I sighed again. This was going to be so hard. I didn’t even want to think about it. Still, we couldn’t just go back to killing dragons when we knew the truth.

On the elevated platform, Spitelout stepped up and raised his hand. The room, impossibly, got quieter. It seemed even the dragons outside got the message.

“I know a lot of you are confused,” he began. “I’ll try to explain this as best as I can.” A moment to collect his thoughts, and then he launched into it:

“Hiccup was not lying when he claimed a dragon had taken control of all the other ones. We confronted this dragon at Helhiem’s Gate, and Hiccup did… _something_ to free some of them. The dragons then turned on it, fighting both the dragon and some of the slaves it still had. We fought as well, sending catapults at it although they seemed to have no effect…”

He continued on with the story. I had half the mind to leave; I’d been _there_ , after all. Spitelout reported the event with little to no interruption, though, and was pretty brisk about it.

“…and so we have returned, with Hiccup as he is in his human form. The Night Fury’s attempts to heal him only seemed to keep death at bay, and has yet to awaken. It will be taken to the Chief’s house and allowed to rest there. As for the other dragons…they do not seem to want to attack us. It is better that we do not provoke them, as we’ve lost most of our catapults and weapons and they greatly outnumber us. Leave them be for now, and we will find a way to get them off our island with as little casualties as possible.” He paused for any questions, and nodded in approval when there was none. “That is all.”

Spitelout stepped down and was lost in the sea of people trying to leave. Snotlout seemed to try and follow him for a moment but gave up soon after, realizing that he would never find him in this mess.

We eventually made it outside, giving us a full view of Berk. Dragons were perched on the rooftops, peeking down at us in caution. Quite a few of them were on top of Town Hall, and with a jolt I realized that maybe more dragons were like the Night Fury and could understand human speech.

A grayed, tired Gronckle hovered overhead—the same one that Hiccup had been with. It caught my eye and descended, sparing those who drew their weapons a glance before landing with a soft _thump_. The dragon stared at me expectantly, webbed ears held up with intent and leaning forward.

“Uh, whatsit want?” Tuffnut whispered. It was so quiet that I was sure everyone heard him.

I looked around for Spitelout, but couldn’t find him in the crowd. The Gronckle stayed where it was, waiting for…something…with patience that I would have never thought a dragon could have.

After some desperate crowd-searching I finally turned back to the Gronckle. It had stopped staring at me and was now fixated on Snotlout. When he pointed at himself in confusion it nodded its head, as if to say, “ _Go on!_ ”

“Uh…” Snotlout looked at me with wide eyes, and I shrugged helplessly. He focused on the dragon again, which had stepped closer to him in anticipation. “You guys can stay here…but only for now. As long as you don’t hurt anyone.”

“Or steal,” I added sharply. “No raiding. At _all_.”

The Gronckle nodded, rumbling. Then it lowered itself, crouching on bent front legs and spreading its tiny wings out as far as they could reach. It maintained the bow until the soft gasps of the gathered crowd around us faded. The strange, wrinkled thing gave us a final nod and flew up to the rooftops.

All of the dragons craned their heads to look at it. The Gronckle croaked and hissed at all of them, spinning in place slowly so that it met the eye of every dragon. When it was finished the other dragons returned its call, some of them even nodding.

The Gronckle flew off in the direction towards the Chief’s house, and I noticed the other members of Hiccup’s group following it. Twelve in all. The rest of the dragons stayed put.

“Wow,” Fishlegs whispered. “Their intelligence is _so much_ higher than I thought…look at that social organization. And that Gronckle was _way_ older than any dragon I’d ever seen…well, except for that Snoggletog dragon, but still! And did you see that bow? That means that there’s a culture, and—ow!”

Ruffnut smirked, drawing her fist back and studying it. “Nerd.”

* * *

The next morning was peaceful. It was like any morning, really. Which was so inherently _wrong_ that I sat still on my bed, holding my axe and just waiting for the sounds of battle to reach me.

The awful sense of foreboding continued when I went outside. The little kids were too busy playing with some Terrible Terrors to notice me.

Oh, and a big-ass Zippleback had taken residence on my rooftop.

I squinted up at it, shielding the sun’s glare with one hand. That thing had definitely not been there when I’d gone home last night. “How long have you _been_ there?” I asked before my brain could catch up with my mouth.

The Zippleback’s two heads looked at each other and chirped a few times. Then it turned to me and shrugged.

A chill went up my spine, and I swung around and walked away as fast as possible. Peaceful dragons were one thing. But peaceful dragons that understood human speech?

It was just…it was wrong. The implications were horrifying. Had we waged a useless war for _generations_? Had we caged and tortured creatures that had enough sentience to know what we were saying? To understand that they were being used as, essentially, training utensils? Worse still, had we ruthlessly killed _thousands_ of innocent creatures that had no free will of their own?

I hurried through the streets, wanting both to see everything and nothing at all. All I saw was more confirmation of what I feared the most.

A few minutes away from my house, I saw a Nightmare planting itself in front of a woman with a string of fish and doing a startlingly good imitation of a begging dog. The woman hesitated, but offered it nonetheless. After a quick snap of its jaws the fish were gone, and the Nightmare licked the woman vigorously and butted its head against her, purring loud enough to make vibrations run through my axe.

Later down the road a man with a cart was wielding a bola, eying a Nadder that had wandered too close to his goods. The Nadder tipped its head at him and snatched the handle in its beak, hopping along the road with happy chirps. The merchant gaped at it for several long seconds before running off after it, yelling that it was going the wrong way.

I myself was stopped by a dragon. Well, more like, I’d accidentally stepped on one because I was too busy looking at the rooftops to actually watch where I was going.

The yellow Nightmare yelped in surprise and twisted too fast for me to follow, rearing its head up and giving me what seemed to be a stern look. It raised its lip, giving me a glimpse of razor-sharp teeth. I began to lift my axe, taking a slow step backwards.

The dragon leaned down to my eye level and brought its tail around, lifting it to see better. There was no visible wound…obviously. Still it narrowed its eyes and nodded at its tail, searing its eyes into mine with clear accusation. When I stared dumbfounded, it snorted and waggled its tail up and down.

Finally, I stammered, “Uh…sorry.”

It grunted and nodded in approval. Then it sat down right there and curled up, content with just lying in the middle of the street.

I gingerly stepped over the sleeping dragon—the dragon that, mere days ago, would have sent fear plunging into the hearts of Vikings everywhere with a simple glare. There was a commotion above, and when I glanced up I saw a few dragons sitting atop a nearby rooftop, watching me and fluttering about. They froze upon me noticing them.

We had a somewhat awkward staring contest until I decided I had better things to do, turning away and taking up a brisk pace. The dragons clucked and chirped at each other as I went. One made a particularly loud noise, and when I glanced over my shoulder I was met with the sight of the bunch of smaller-than-average dragons prancing around the Nightmare. It looked beyond annoyed, but still lifted its tail and claws just out of reach as the littler dragons scampered around it like excited puppies. It twisted its head and met my eyes, giving a distinct eyeroll before its attention was drawn to a much smaller Nightmare that had taken its wing up in its claws.

The scolding the smaller Nightmare got was…impressive. It sulked away and sat at the edge of their group, hunched over and giving its elder a weak glare. It was the spitting image of a toddler that had been given a time-out.

 I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, suddenly finding it difficult to steady myself.

* * *

The door swung open, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut tumbled out of the house in a huge pile.

“Okay Mom we’ll talk about it later gotta go!” Tuffnut shouted, slamming the door shut on his furious mother and bolting away. Ruffnut was on his heels, and it took some sprinting for me to actually catch up with them.

We stopped once their house was out of sight. Tuffnut had fallen to the ground and Ruffnut and I could barely breathe, stooped over. “Care to explain?” I gasped.

“Dragons. House. Fire,” Tuffnut gasped.

I gave them a blank look. “Wait. You brought a dragon in your house.”

“It sounded like a good idea at the time…,” Ruffnut grumbled. She sat up and said, “Anyways, what’s up?”

I began to ask them if they wanted to find the others to hang out, but my words were lost in a huge roar of wingbeats overhead. All three of us jumped, my hand flying to my axe. At least a dozen dragons had taken flight, the uptake from their wings sending gales below. They all rose and angled themselves east—towards Loki’s Mountain.

“The hell?” Ruffnut asked, clambering to her feet.

Tuffnut squinted up at them. “Maybe they’re gonna have a party.”

“No…” I trailed off. It took a couple seconds, and then it struck me, hard as a hammer. “Let’s go!” I shouted, taking off again.

“What? _Running?_ ” Ruffnut complained as she was left in the dust.

“Wait!” Tuffnut yelped. “You didn’t tell me if there was a party or not!”

* * *

We weren’t the first people to notice that a large number of dragons had flocked to the mountain. A crowd had formed on the road leading up to it, full of people with weapons held low and ready.

I pushed my way through, creating a hole for the three of us to get through. When we grappled ourselves towards the front, we were given a full view to what had caused such a commotion.

The Kill Ring was _surrounded_ by dragons.

“Guys! Hey, guys!”

I twisted around, eyes scrunching up in confusion. Wait….why was _he_ here?

“Snotlout, you lost or somethin’?” Tuffnut echoed my thoughts.

The Chief’s nephew didn’t get a chance to respond. The crowd abruptly parted and Fishlegs came tumbling through, barely catching himself on his feet. “I saw the dragons here and went to go tell Stoick,” he gasped, casting wary eyes up at the dragons.

Snotlout grimaced. “Dad told me to ‘handle the situation’.”

My heart sunk. “It’s that bad there?” I asked, barely able to get the words out.

Snotlout looked away, his eyes distant. “Hiccup’s… _really_ sick,” he mumbled.

“That’s rough, bro,” Tuffnut said, offering him a good-natured punch to the shoulder.

“So what exactly is the situation, anyways?” I asked, trying to change the subject. If things were bad enough that even _Spitelout_ wouldn’t leave Hiccup’s—or the Chief’s—side, then I doubted Snotlout wanted to spend his time away talking about it.

“Well, it’s kinda funny…here, I’ll just show ya,” Snotlout said, waving for us to follow him. The crowd easily parted for us, allowing us to walk right up the path and through the gates of the Kill Ring.

The dragons perched on the outer cage stared down at us, watching our every move. They all fell silent, their eyes gouging into us.

And the cages rattled as their occupants fought to be freed.

“We never let them out,” I said, my breath leaving me.

“Oh. Oops,” Ruffnut said.

Snotlout turned to me. “Yeah. So…what should we do?”

I looked up. Clearly these dragons were here to make sure that their brethren were released.

And if these dragons were really as peaceful as Hiccup had tried to explain, then keeping some of them captive would only spark the lull of the war back into a raging inferno. I bit my lower lip. “Release them. Just…we have to be careful. We should leave the Ring open enough so that we can fit through but they can’t.” I pointed at the gate in particular, which had several meters in between it and the nearest members of the crowd. “That way if they panic, we won’t get hurt and they won’t get out and attack anyone.”

The others all said their agreement. After having Tuffnut and Snotlout fiddle around with the gates to get them to the necessary heights, I walked over to the nearest cage—the one that held the Nadder. The dragons clinging to the ceiling above began to make a lot of noise, all of them edging closer to the cage. Squawking and chirping and roars filled my ears as I placed my hands on the release lever. For a moment I paused, casting my eyes back over to the others. All of them had produced weapons and had placed themselves in a wide semi-circle, ready to defend me at a moment’s notice.

I kept my axe sheathed, and pulled the cage open.

The dragon inside screamed. It flapped its wings wildly, launching into the walls of its cage several times before huddling in the back, quivering. It lifted its tail and attempted to shoot daggers at me, only for the pins to fly far off-target, smacking into the wall besides it instead. The dragon’s eyes were wide, wild, and its pupils were all but swallowed by its orange-red irises. It quaked where it stood, shrieking again and again until I thought it’d deafen everyone in its vicinity. The memory of Hiccup, trapped within a storage shed, burst into my mind’s eye.

The dragons above gave louder cries, echoing the dragon’s fear. It didn’t seem to have any effect on it.

With trembling hands I withdrew my axe from my belt. The Nadder froze and bared its teeth at me, extending its wings and lowering its head.

I paused, and then crouched over and gently set my beloved weapon onto the cage floor. Holding my hands up to show that I was disarmed, I whispered, “Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you.”

The Nadder lifted its head and clucked. It snorted and stomped its feet, shaking its head. The dragons above continued in their cacophony.

Still keeping my hands up, I said, “We’re letting you go. Just don’t hurt anyone, alright?”

It stared deep into my eyes. I could see the gears shifting in its mind, trying to decipher what I was up to. But it could understand me, couldn’t it?

The dragon stalked forward, its eyes never leaving mine as it approached the cage’s entrance. It stopped right next to me and gazed up at its kin, and its jaw fell open in what could have only been shock. It spent a full minute having a conversation with them, tossing its head and fluttering its wings while giving agitated hisses and squawks that rose higher and higher in pitch and volume.

Finally the Nadder lowered its head, squeezing its eyes shut. It looked just as distraught as Hiccup, when the Chief had found him and led a hunt to find him.

“Hey,” I said. The dragon opened an eye at me, and I went on, “I’m…not really sure if you can understand me or not. But I get that this is probably really hard for you. Hiccup…the brown Night Fury explained to us about how the Queen had you as slaves.” The Nadder continued to droop and shook its head, wheezing shakily. I stopped short, at a loss of what to say.

“I…I just…” I almost looked away, but forced myself to maintain eye contact. “All of this could have been avoided if we’d just listened better. But we didn’t, and…you were used like you weren’t even alive, and…” My voice shook, and I took a deep breath to even it out again. “I’m sorry.”

The Nadder paused and lifted its head to my eye level. It gazed at me with wide eyes, head tipping to the side. It looked so much like Hiccup, fearful yet hopeful. The dragons above quieted while their friend studied me, and for a moment the only sounds I could hear were my rapid heartbeat and heavy breathing.

The dragon pushed its head into my chest, closing its eyes. A soft purr rose from its chest.

I gaped, barely having the sense to lift my hands up to its cheekbones. Smooth, scaly. It was surprisingly warm. When my fingers strayed closer to its neck, I could feel the swift flutter of its pulse, even faster than my own.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, holding the Nadder close. “I’m sorry.”

* * *

The rest went relatively smoothly.

Relatively.

All of the dragons that were released seemed to suffer from an anxiety attack of some sort upon their cage opening. Yet, once the cries of the other dragons got to them—and the humans speaking to them—they would calm down. It took Fishlegs a little under five minutes to convince the Gronckle that it was safe. The twins took this as a challenge to try and do it faster with the Zippleback, but ended up getting in an argument halfway through that the _dragon_ had to intercept. It looked something akin to a frustrated parent, holding them apart from each other with half-lidded eyes.

The Nightmare was the worst. It galloped around the Ring, set itself on fire, and screeched loud enough to rattle the mountain. Once its fire went out, Snotlout took a hands-on approach of pinning its head to the ground until it stopped skittering around, only releasing it once we were all sure it wouldn’t fight back. The dragon took in the “explanations” for _maybe_ ten seconds before flying into a rage, attacking a nearby shield rack and breaking every inanimate object in its sight to bits. When it was surrounded by nothing but splinters Snotlout warily approached it once more, pointedly telling it that we wouldn’t be able to release it if it continued to act as it had. The Nightmare “argued” back at Snotlout, but finally seemed to relent with a deep sigh.

And so we were left with all of the cages open and several dragons sitting beside us. They were still cautious but, overall, far more calm than expected. The Terror was the only one that chose not to stick around, easily flitting through the half-opened gate and flying away.

“I guess we can just…leave, then?” Fishlegs asked. The Gronckle perked up at his voice and then resumed its staring contest with the one thing between it and freedom.

“I…guess?” Snotlout said. He walked over to the gate, the Nightmare falling into step behind him. With a swing of a lever the door shot all the way up.

The dragons stayed.

Taking the lead out, I walked at a somewhat brisk pace. The massive crowd was still there, and from the sound of it, they _definitely_ had not expected us to come out with dragons at our sides like pets.

Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and glanced over my shoulder. The Nadder was still trailing me—as were the other dragons with their respective “friends”. Even the Nightmare was clearly following Snotlout, although it was trying really hard to look detached and uncaring with an uplifted muzzle.

The dragons that had coated the outer Ring dispersed all at once in a flurry of colors, some staying overhead but the majority taking off once they were sure that everyone was unharmed. The crowd of Vikings was much more reluctant. It took a few conversations to convince everyone that we weren’t going to be eaten. One by one everyone returned to their businesses, until all that were left were my friends and the dragons that had, merely an hour ago, been locked up in a cage as a slave.

“Why aren’t you flying away?” I asked the Nadder. She chirped, butting her head against my chest. When I didn’t respond she did it again, with quite a bit extra force. I brought a hand up to rest on her forehead, and she immediately relented.

With a smile, I said, “Well, I guess I don’t mind you following me around.”

* * *

After accepting death, coming back was…confusing.

When I first woke the flare was ecstatic, several of the younger members prancing around me as I struggled to sit up. I had been placed on the ground after being delivered to the spot the humans thought best, and apparently had been in and out of consciousness for quite some time. The elder Hum-Wing informed me that a few dragons had attempted healing spells, but my body had not cooperated.

Three days, they told me. Three days I had been in forever-sleep. A deep, prickly chill swept down my spine whenever I recalled what it had been like. More specifically, what I had encountered. It didn’t feel real at all, making me wonder…

Was it a hallucination?

It made perfect sense. The lack of oxygen, the newfound and confusing soul-magic, the strain of overusing my normal magic, the terror that had accompanied my plummet into unconsciousness…of course I would have some odd dream. Of course my mind would come up with an “out” of this in a final effort to shield myself from the waking world.

Yet I knew better than that. I knew how to recognize signs, and I doubted even I could have come up with _that._ Especially when…well, a _miracle_ happened.

Somehow, Hiccup’s heart had restarted on the ship beneath the sun and moon. But he had yet to awake and had dropped into forever-sleep himself, while I had recovered from it. I knew better than to mourn over how unfair it was now.

Now, sitting before Hiccup’s nest—the one he had lived in as a human—a deep hollowness still gripped me in the wake of the battle. It was as though I was there, but observing from a distance, completely apathetic. My head buzzed with ambient sound, akin to what one hears when falling into sleep, and my eyes and limbs felt heavier than the great mountains weighing down my soul.

I knew it wasn’t, but I wanted to believe it had been a hallucination. Because anything was better than this.

All twelve dragons of our group sat at my side. We formed an odd party atop the little hill Hiccup’s nest nestled upon. Humans walked back and forth, either to the other nests a ways away from this one or to visit. We were given a wide berth, wary glances, and several raised weapons.

The rest of the dragon tribe was still on the island. They were too afraid to return to the nest—not without either myself or Hiccup. They seemed to fear that if we were not there with them, regardless of the Queen’s death, that they would fall under the same spell again.

Worst of all, it had been decided that _both_ Hiccup and I were to be Kings. And since we were both here, they stayed. The flock goes where its King goes, after all.

The Vikings were tolerating them. They would not appreciate permanent residence—but that was going to happen, if they decided to follow us. I would stay by Hiccup’s side, and they would stay by ours. And Hiccup…

Hiccup would never be a dragon again.

It was just too much for his tiny body to handle; _three_ transformations, within a single lifetime? No. I would not participate in such an act—I would not kill him.

The thought, even after so long, was unbearable. I had tried so hard to find a way around it. But I knew more than anyone the consequences of the powerful magic, and soul-magic seemed to be composed wholly of fire. It was impossible to get around.

I focused all of my attention on the nest as the sun rose and sunk in the sky, my vision trained on where Hiccup was, my ears perked and ready for the slightest sound. For an outcry, whether it be of joy or agony. For _anything._

A nudge on my foot finally brought me out of my thoughts. I glanced down, eyes narrowed. The singled-winged Little-Biter flinched away, slumping where he sat and focusing on his claws.

“Savior,” he greeted me with the deepest of bows, “I think you should leave, for a while...if it’s alright. You haven’t moved from here in days.”

I almost grimaced at the name. Hiccup and I had been awarded them, much to my bafflement. We were to be called The Saviors now, thoroughly imprinted into dragon history. It felt almost wrong. I was flattered, obviously, but I had always come to see myself as “Toothless”. It was nice to see the acknowledgement for Hiccup, though; whether or not he was a dragon mattered little to our kind, and his transformation was even seen as a great sacrifice in the eyes of many.

“I’m fine,” I said curtly. The Little-Biter drooped. How he had gotten out of the nest in time was beyond me—I’d never bothered to ask. Little runt probably hitched a ride on some unsuspecting Hum-Wing. I had no interest in him, especially after he had so easily wedged himself in between Hiccup and me during our time under the Queen’s control, making it all the more easy for her to separate us. I knew it wasn’t his fault—but the echoes of betrayal and loneliness still resonated within me, and he was an easy scapegoat.

The Little-Biter gave the nest a long, tired look. He padded off with his tail dragging and head low, ducking right between the legs of an adult Viking without the slightest twitch. The Viking glanced down in surprise and then shrugged at his friend, and their conversation carried on. I pressed my lips together, guilt ebbing its way into my chest, and imagined Hiccup’s disapproving look and “get along better” speech that he’d always given us.

“Wait—“ I began.

“Night Fury!” Someone called at the same time. I jumped and whirled my head around, having not expected ‘Astrid’ to be so close.

A Two-Walker was with her, to my bafflement. I regarded the dragoness with an odd look, to which she met my eyes without fear. She stood with her feet slightly apart and wings fidgeting; defensive, although not threatened.

“Who are you?” I finally asked, eyes flicking over to the female human.

“Her companion, my King,” the Two-Walker said formally. She puffed up with pride and continued, “She freed me, and has allowed me to reside with her since, even though I already owe her my life. She was frightened at first, but even with how little I know of human language, I know she is trying harder than any other to understand.” The young dragon paused, unsure, and then said much more meekly, “She calls me Stormfly.”

My first reaction was one of disgust—a _young_ dragon with a name? But then again, humans loved to throw names on just about everything. Hiccup had quite easily given me mine. I guess they just didn’t understand their importance.

I glanced over at ‘Astrid’, who seemed to be waiting for us to stop talking. “Well…as long as _I_ _’m_ not dealing with her.”

The Two-Walker—no, Stormfly—gasped and bared her teeth, stomping a clawed foot. Her human raised a paw to her neck, and the young dragoness settled for lowering her head and giving me a good glare. She made a good match with ‘Astrid’; a bullheaded dragon for a bullheaded human, it seemed.

“Shh, Stormfly,” ‘Astrid’ said in an even, calm tone. She turned to me, gnawing at her lower lip, and held up a cod she’d been holding in her paw. “Here. I know you haven’t eaten since you got here.”

Neither had Hiccup. I would wait with him.

The human gave a resigned huff at my upturned nose, while Stormfly settled for an exaggerated roll of her eyes. ‘Astrid’ looked as though she were going to say something, but then shook her head and sighed, “Then just hang in there, I guess.” She set the fish down at my paws and gave me a long stare, filled with thousands of words wanting to be spoken. Then she and Stormfly stepped a few paces away from the rest of the flare and sat down on a softer-looking patch of grass.

“We’ll wait here until we can be let in,” ‘Astrid’ whispered to Stormfly. “I need to see him. I’ve…done some pretty bad things that ended up hurting him.”

Stormfly had her head tipped to the side—clearly what her human had said had gone right over her head. Still she clucked happily, butting the Viking affectionately.

I watched them carefully, repeating the words over in my head. For that, I could…grudgingly respect ‘Astrid’. At least she knew that she had been wrong—a stunning display of intelligence. She did not deserve her name just yet, though. I caught the elder giving me a saddened look out of the corner of my eye, and put my best efforts into keeping my eyes trained on the nest.

There was no sound, no movement. After some time the entrance became pressed into my memory so thoroughly that when I glanced away, I saw its reflection in neon colors.

That was enough.

I got to my feet for the first time in days, holding back a pained hiss. My entire body ached, both from the battle and lack of movement. The members of our flare scrambled to their feet to support me, but with a wave of my wing they all reluctantly settled back down. Taking in a deep breath, I walked as casually as I could towards the nest.

One human was brave enough to approach, but all it took was a loud snort to send him back. Good.

There was a strange, round contraption on the piece of wood that blocked the nest from the outside. I studied it, sniffing it and recoiling at the acidic smell of the worn metal. I’d seen humans place their paws on it, though, so I did the same.

Nothing happened.

Maybe it needed pressure? I lifted my paw and slapped it against the round thing, and with a great _CRACK!_ the piece of wood broke from its place and slammed against the interior of the nest, where it hung at an odd angle.

Ah, so _that_ _’s_ how it worked.

Inside, four humans surrounded a large object, three of which who jumped to their feet upon my intrusion. The King and Snotlout’s father all seemed ready to chase me out with force, while an elderly female with long white fur continued on with her task without pausing.

My eyes locked on the figure—on _Hiccup_ —and my limbs all but melted into the ground. ‘Astrid’ swooped right underneath me, stopping abruptly at my side upon the awful sight. Behind me, Stormfly stammered something about staying outside.

“Get out!” The King demanded. I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped in, forcing down the involuntary shudder that accompanied losing the advantage of flight. How humans lived in here, I would never imagine—you couldn’t even see the sky!

I took my eyes off of the ceiling and settled down next to Snotlout, even as the King and his brother got up and surrounded me. ‘Astrid’ was ignored due to my presence, taking up Snotlout’s other side and holding a paw to her mouth for a brief moment.

My eyes rested on Hiccup, and with a yank of my stomach I realized that I wasn’t ready for this.

He looked dead. His skin was as white as the wool of sheep and covered in a thick sheen of sweat, his lips merely a shade darker. His brows were drawn together, like he was puzzled over something, and I had to strain my ears on him to catch the wheezing sounds of his breathing. He was covered up to his neck with long expanses of compact fur, but his thin frame was stark against it. There was a sickening empty space where the lower half of his left leg should have been.

And worse still, the entire room reeked of gangrene and infection.

I swayed, forcing myself not to turn away. Instead I hung my head low, back arched sharp and wings spilling to the ground. The angry shouts of the adults for me to get my scaly ass back outside lapsed into silence.

A paw rested on my shoulder and I flinched away by instinct. Snotlout gave me a meaningful look and let his leg fall back to his side. I gave a short rumble to express my gratitude, but I could tell from his lack of reaction that he’d had no idea what I’d meant.

“Hiccup,” ‘Astrid’ whispered. She slumped over, holding a paw to her head. “Gods, I’m so sorry…”

It was all I had to rip my eyes away from Hiccup to stare at her openmouthed. My attention was quickly drawn away when the King took his place across from me beside the elder. For a moment he looked at both ‘Astrid’ and me with narrowed eyes, before shaking his head in acceptance with a soft sigh. He lifted a paw to brush aside Hiccup’s matted fur with a gentleness that I thought wasn’t possible from him.

“I did this,” he whispered.

I lifted my head, and our eyes met.

“….No.” I shook my head slowly, so that he would understand. Too cowardly to maintain eye contact, I looked down at my feet and held a paw up, placing it against my chest. “ _I_ did this.”

Snotlout’s father grunted and mumbled, “I noticed how you didn’t kill me in the Ring. Not because you couldn’t, but that you chose not to. I always wondered why…” We briefly matched our gazes, and both of us returned down to the near-dead figure resting before us. I lowered my paw and rested my head on the…thing that Hiccup lay upon, staring at his unmoving, troubled expression.

The elder spoke, her voice as aged as the wind and just as rasp. It was so difficult to hear her, I had to strain just to catch a breath of the words. “The fault cannot be placed upon one person’s shoulders.” She looked at me. “Or dragon’s.”

I lifted my ears to show I was listening. The elder gave a lopsided smile and lifted a frail, quaking paw. She brandished a long, thin branch of a tree, which seemed to have designs carved into it. She angled the tip at the ground beside me, but when I glanced over, I didn’t see anything. I blinked back at her, uncomprehending, until she said, “Your tail.”

Lifting said appendage, I brought it round and allowed it to rest on the bed near Hiccup’s feet ( _foot,_ part of me whispered maliciously) and fanned the tailfins out. Only a trained eye could tell the difference between the natural tailfin and the unnatural one. The membranes were just a tad too smooth and perfect, the bones a fraction more inflexible. It was unnoticeable even to me during flight, largely a cosmetic problem. Yet the elder rested a tiny paw on my left tailfin and smiled up at me.

“Amazing,” she said, “how artificial _and_ natural it really is.”

 _Artificial?_ Well, wasn’t _that_ insulting. I gave a small snort but forced myself to reel my anger in, keeping in mind that these humans knew almost nothing about dragon magic. Still, to call the work of that Flame-Skin _artificial_ , to make it as though his death was in vain…

“I don’t get it,” Snotlout said stupidly. I held in a sigh. While very…passionate…it did not take a genius to deduce that he was not particularly intelligent. Still, he was far better than ‘Astrid’. He actually cared about Hiccup—loved him, even, in his own odd way—and that was enough for me.

Although…I glanced over at ‘Astrid’, at the deep regret rooted in her eyes. Like the King, she’d locked her eyes on Hiccup and hadn’t wavered since. She probably wasn’t even listening.

Maybe she did deserve her name.

The elder chuckled, dragging my gaze over to her.  “Dragon magic,” was all that she said.

I lifted my head, eyes flicking down to my tailfin. But…we knew—well, _I_ knew—that soul-magic wouldn’t work, and….oh.

_Oh._

Snotlout stood up so abruptly that the platform he had been resting on clattered to the floor. “He can heal Hiccup?!”

“Absolutely not.”

All eyes flew to Hiccup’s father. As stern as a King could possibly be, he said, “Dragon magic is what caused all of this in the first place. And it was not enough on the ship.”

Snotlout deflated in a startling impression of the Little-Biter, bending over to pick up his platform and righting it before sitting down. I caught the King’s eye and he gave me a long, withered look. It was not one of hatred or stubbornness, but caution. He was still afraid of what the magic would do to his son. Looking down at Hiccup, I tried to place myself in his scales—would I trust myself?

No. No, I wouldn’t.

_THWACK!_

The King grunted under the assault of the elder’s tree branch. My ears shot straight up, wide eyes set on her. To attack a King…no matter her ranking!

The elder gestured with a paw at Hiccup. It took everything I had to focus on his scarred face, his deathly pale skin.

If not for his faint, gasping breaths, I would have thought that he had died during our conversation.

He needed help. He needed _something. Now._ I could almost feel his heart losing strength, relinquishing the will to continue onwards. Dragoness of the Moon knows that it deserved some peace.

I stood up straighter, looking to the King once more. Now, more than ever, did I wish that I had taken a more active interest in Hiccup’s “writing”, in learning how to communicate without sound. Instead I had to settle for a strong, significant look.

 _This is your decision_ , I tried to say, leaning closer to him and then glancing meaningfully to his son. _I_ _’m not playing with others_ _’ lives any more._

The King seemed to understand something. He wrenched his wrinkled, baggy eyes away from me and rested a paw on Hiccup’s chest. “Will he become a dragon again?” He whispered.

My ears lowered, and I shook my head. _Not even if I wanted him to._ _Not even if_ he _wanted to_.

Hiccup’s father gave a long, deep breath of air. I had a feeling it was to steady himself. “Alright.”

I stood up, and so did the elder. Upon my confused glance she asked, “You will use the magic given to heal your tail?” I nodded, and she gave me a sad, grim look. “Then you know the consequences.”

Sparing only a small glance at my tailfin, I nodded again—this time with much more determination. I would do anything.

Snotlout was still sitting on his thing, closest to Hiccup on this side. I nudged him out of it (much to his displeasure) and then grabbed the platform in my teeth, throwing it aside. ‘Astrid’ didn’t need nearly as much force to get up and take a few steps back. Sitting back on my haunches, I rested both of my paws on top of the soft surface Hiccup was lying on, taking a moment to study his face. Just to make sure, I glanced up at the King, raising my ears.

He was holding Hiccup’s paw in his own. He gave a weary, exhausted nod.

I brought my tail up. Fanned the tailfins in and out, watching them move back and forth. The nest seemed to close in, choking me with claustrophobia. Suddenly it felt like the humans around me were sitting close enough to feel their breath on my scales. I jerked my head back with a soft growl, sending Snotlout, his father, and Astrid jumping back. The elder and King remained where they were.

With a deep sigh I settled my tail down next to my paws, closing the right tailfin and keeping the left open. I put my right paw on top of the tailfin and, after shifting the sheet of fur off of Hiccup as gently as I could, placed my left on Hiccup’s chest.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Everything was pushed away—the nest we were in, the anxiety of the humans surrounding me, the mind-numbing fear that I would fail _again._ I forced my existence to come down to two things: the steady flow of foreign magic in my tailfin, and the weak, fluttering beating of Hiccup’s heart.

For just a moment I mapped out how I would direct the magic’s flow. I would…I would pull it from my tailfin and let it flow through my own heart. And then…with the magic having now passed through an organ that was actually _working_ …it should be able to enter another of the same kind without much difficulty, right? It would fill him with energy and life, giving his body a new drive to work off of. As long as he still had the will to live…it could happen…

I was never a healing-dragon. I had no idea if it would work. It made sense to me—wouldn’t recklessly pushing magic into someone’s body cause damage, if the magic was not defined well enough? I had done that exact method on the “boat”, and it had hardly worked, even with all the magic I had had at my disposal. I wasn’t going to do that again. The magic needed a guiding paw.

For a moment doubt overcame me. I didn’t know how to do it. I should ask the dragons outside for help. I shouldn’t be doing something I didn’t fully understand, not when Hiccup’s life was at stake.

The Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon seemed to disagree. As I sat there and wracked my brain for any information on healing-magic I could muster, something seemed…wrong. Hiccups’ chest had begun to rise and fall at irregular intervals. His heart was shaky now, like it was tired and couldn’t hold its own weight.

I had but a second to realize what was happening and began the spell, bracing myself for what was to come. The magic squirmed against its new owner but eventually complied, flowing freely up through my paw.

He had waited for me. To give me a chance to say goodbye.

Hiccup’s heart stopped, and my tail exploded with agony.

* * *

I jolted out of my bed with a start.

My room was bright—it was easily late morning, possibly even early noon. My body was cloaked in sweat. Shuddering, I stumbled out of bed, flapping my wings to get the clinging blanket off of them. Honestly, I had no idea why I even used that thing. It wasn’t even cold.

There was a rustling from outside, and then the door popped open. Toothless poked his head in. “Oh, _now_ you’re awake,” he grumbled. “Have I taught you nothing about sleeping in?”

“Where’s Dad?” I asked, leaning towards the floor to stretch my legs and arching my back. I couldn’t quite place it, but I was urgent to see my father—more than urgent, really. I _needed_ to see him.

Toothless turned around and shouted, “Father! Hiccup wants you!”

“Then tell him to get down here!” Dad replied, his voice distant. Toothless gave me a pointed look with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and trotted over to him, closing the door with my tail behind me.

Dad was downstairs, fiddling with a piece of wood and a knife. When I saw him I nearly fell apart with relief and ran to him, burying my nose into his neck.

“Woah!” He said, rubbing my forehead. “What’s gotten into you?”

I couldn’t stop smiling. “Sorry. I just—you know…ahem,” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “What are you doing?”

“Woodcarvin’!” He held it up for me to see. It was a gigantic monster, bulbous with a massive jaw and a crown atop its head. It had wings far too small for its body, and yet I knew it could fly. In its mouth was…

The woodcarving blinked and swallowed the leg it had been holding, and then looked upon me with hungry eyes. I shrieked and stumbled, falling on my back, and the monster grew and grew and grew until it broke the house’s very foundations and water began to flood in from all the cracks in the ceiling and walls, as if we’d been living underwater the entire time and were only just realizing it as we were drowning—

_Hiccup! Please, wake up!_

 —Toothless was gone. I blinked, staring at where I was sure he’d just been.

“You look confused,” came a voice from behind. “Hit your head on the ceiling again?”

Smiling, I mused, “Well, that may be part of it.”

Astrid patted my side for a moment. When I looked at her, I couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong; she seemed…different, somehow.

“Do you want to go practice with the others?” She asked, fiddling with a string on her neck. “Or are you busy?”

“Nah, I was actually going to go see someone with Toothless, but he wandered off…”

Astrid rolled her eyes. “I’ll go get him for you.” And she was off, hair flying in the wind. I watched her for a few moments and returned to my original task with a sigh. The house I was going to was only a few second’s flight away, but I walked instead. Several villagers gave me odd looks, and I couldn’t help but empathize with them. A few dragons flew down to me and greeted me with a good headbutt or pat with a wing. I noticed the Little-Biter following me at a distance, but when I looked over at him he scurried away.

Eventually, I made it to the house. Knocking three times on the door, I sat down and waited patiently.

There was a slight scuffling, and then the door opened. The Queen frowned, brushing long locks of brown hair out of her face. She paused as three small children bearing her eyes flew out of the house with gleeful smiles before asking, “Yes?”

I was at a loss; why was I here again? “There’s been a terrible accident,” I blurted. Both of us reared back in surprise. I tried to clamp my mouth shut, but the words forced themselves through. “We need to know…we need…”

_Don’t you dare die on me again!_

The ground I was sitting on sloshed and turned and rippled. I looked down and nearly fainted in shock at seeing cold, glowing blood pooling at my feet. Heart pounding, I opened my wings and tried to leap to the air, only to feel a strange absence and slip back down into the lake of red.

“Oh, dear,” the Queen whispered. She offered me a long, slender hand. I blinked at it, horrified. At her sides were the three children that had just left the house, each one burnt and bleeding profusely from long clawmarks marring their chests and necks.

The Queen’s body bulged and distorted, and she observed her new paws and scales and wings for a moment before offering me a paw this time.

I found my wings, and took off into the sky. I was so panicked that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the house.

This resulted in a spectacularly embarrassing collision.

“Aah!” Toothless cried. He righted himself and hovered, fixing me with an annoyed look. “Hiccup, what’s gotten into you?”

“I…uh…” I looked down. Berk seemed completely fine. “I don’t know,” I whispered.

Toothless raised a brow. “Well, do you want to go hunting?” I nodded, and with a grin he shouted, “I’ll race you!”

My eyes widened at his retreating form. “Toothless!” I gasped, terror clenching my heart in pointed claws. “Your tail!”

Even at his distance, he still heard me. He glanced back and his pupils turned to slits in fear. He tried to compensate for the missing tailfin, and I flung myself after him, but he was falling, falling—!

_Come back to me!_

“Hiccup, focus!”

“What?” I shook my head and blinked several times.

Snotlout gave me a look. “Were you, like, not paying attention at all?”

I glanced around. Everyone was giving me confused, slightly irritated stares—even Toothless. “Uh…”

“Well, since he’s got his head in the clouds,” Astrid said, “I think he should go first.”

“Go where?” I asked. Ruffnut and Tuffnut snickered. Snotlout sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

“I’ll help him,” Toothless came to my rescue. He put a wing over my back and guided me into the forest. We walked in tandem, our footsteps mirroring each other, and I cursed myself for having not paid attention. It was so strange…I couldn’t even remember how we got there…

We reached the cove. A thousand eyes stared up at us. Even the Queen looked frightened.

“We have to help them,” Toothless said. I looked up at him and screeched when his eyes were nothing but black pits, body gushing blood and wings dripping. He looked as though he were melting.

I wrenched myself away from him—or what was left of him. The forest was bleeding, too. And the occupants of the cove—they were _imprisoned_ , I realized. They were disappearing under a great ocean of blood, the sickly metallic smell choking me. I tried to open my wings as a great pain sliced through my chest—

_Keep fighting, Hiccup!_

—the ocean spilled over the edge of the cove and came over me in a behemoth of a wave. I screeched into the bloody waters, trying to find the surface, hoping to see Toothless diving towards me. A bath—that’s what had happened last time, I’d been trying to take a bath and had fallen in—

The blood closed in, as black as night, and it rushed past me in a powerful tide. Suddenly I was falling, and I hit something—hard.

I groaned, trying to get to my feet. I gasped and recoiled when hands instead of paws supported me.

A quick glance over my body proved that I had indeed lost my dragon form. My heart clenched and I shook my head, holding a new hand to my mouth.

“No,” I choked.

“Unfortunately,” came a masculine voice.

I looked up. There were two canines, both whose fur were the color of the blood I had just drowned in. With a start I realized we were standing atop a great puzzle. Each piece glowed with blinding luminescence, and I couldn’t help but feel attached to every single one of them. Each section, no matter how battered or painful it was to look at, was important.

…Why did I have the feeling that I had been here before?

I stood up and addressed the canines, “Uh…hey?”

They didn’t respond. Instead, the one on the left asked, “Who are you?” Her feminine voice had a slight echo, and if I looked into her eyes just enough, I could see reflections of…something. Especially her left eye.

“Uh…I’m Hiccup,” I drawled. “And who are you, oh magic dogs…?”

“What are you?” The male canine on the right asked, ignoring my question.

My eyebrows scrunched in, and I rubbed my arm in discomfort. “A…Shadow-Blender?” Looking down at my very un-draconic body, I amended, “Well…I _was_ a Shadow-Blender.”

“Was?” The female repeated. She approached with silent footfalls, and the slightly larger canine followed. Again the creeping sensation of familiarity encroached upon me. I knew this place. I knew _them._

I guess that made them friends? I nodded, chest tightening. My breathing began to speed up, and the need to _flee_ suddenly overcame me. “Yeah,” I breathed. “But…the Queen…” I squeezed my eyes shut.

“A terrible fate, indeed,” the female said. “Such corruption would drive any human or dragon—or something in between—over the edge of insanity.”

“You don’t hate her?” I asked.

The canine tipped her head to the side. “By the heavens, no.”

“All creatures are the hero of their own story,” the male said. “They all have their rationality, no matter how misguided. There are none who cause such destruction in the name of malice.”

“But she…she…”

“We know,” both of them said.

“And it is not easily forgiven,” said the female.

“But it must,” the male completed her sentence hardly a breath afterwards. “To trap oneself in the past…that is what sealed her fate.”

I looked down at my hands. Felt the absence of my wings.

“Where are you?” The female asked, her voice so soft and gentle.

I looked around. I’d been here before. There was no sky, but the puzzle below was bright enough to make up for it.

Fear overcame me, forcing me to turn away and do my utmost to ignore it. “I need to get back home,” I said. “I have to—“

“Do not shut yourself in the past,” the larger canine growled. His voice was so stern I flinched away. “You must learn acceptance. To stay here is to accept death.”

I shook my head. “But…”

“Where are you?” The female repeated herself with unending patience. I swallowed, and forced myself to look down.

…wait…

Sudden clarity hit me. I remembered in a great rush and rocked at the raw emotion and memories as they barreled into me. The puzzle began to chip away at the edges, each precious piece falling away, and I turned to the canines—no, the _dragon gods_ —for guidance. They wanted me to survive, but in what? Darkness?

I jumped at the nearest piece falling away, gritting my teeth and pulling it back into place. My whole body ached with the effort, sending daggers of agony slicing up from my arms. I wasn’t going to let it go! I couldn’t let it die!

The voices of the gods filled all of entirety, “ _You must move forward!_ ”

The world itself continued to crumble apart around us. The piece I had tried so hard to save easily met the same fate as the rest. My hair flung back and forth as I backed towards the gods and watched the puzzle shatter, completely helpless.

It had almost reached us. We were going to fall!

The destruction stopped just at the piece we were standing on. I held my arms to my chest, staring into the nothingness around me.  Swallowing, I peered over into whatever was ahead.

The Dragoness of the Moon turned to face me and rose on her hind legs. We locked eyes, and she reared her paw back. I could have sworn I saw a smile on her face.

“What are you—“

She slammed her paws on my shoulders and gave a mighty pull, and I fell forward.

* * *

At first, I thought I was in the ocean.

My limbs felt as though they were made of stone, dragging me down into the depths. Everything seemed quieter, subdued. For a moment panic struck me, and I strained to open my eyes so that I could find the surface and claw my way up to it. My heart hammered painfully in my chest, scorching my chest from the inside out.

It took me far longer than it should have for me to realize that I was breathing and, therefore, not underwater.

My stinging heart began to calm down, and above its roar I managed to catch snippets of sound. Something warm and clammy grasped at my claws, and a cool, wet object was drawn across my forehead and neck. Sound was absent except for some heavy rasping.

 _Move_ , I told my body. It would not.

I tried to open my eyes. When that failed I focused on my limbs; if I could move around, even a little, I’d regain control of my body.

Nothing happened. I fought down squeezing panic, trying to still my aching heart, and drew in a breath. _Calm down, Hiccup. You_ _’_ _re fine. You_ _’_ _re fine._

The cold, wet thing brushed across my face again, sending little droplets of water running down my cheeks. Whatever was gripping at my claws squeezed tight.

I pulled all of my attention onto the warmth. Someone was there—someone had to be there. I concentrated on my own limp claws, pouring every ounce of strength I had in me into a single command:

_Move!_

They twitched, shuddering, and closed around the other claws. In the distance, miles away, there was a shout.

_Good, good. Okay. I got this._

Alright…now for the eyes. I pushed away the doubts muddling my mind and again gathered all of the power I had to my name. It was simple—just open my eyes. Move those eyelids. I could do this.

I _strained_ and _heaved_ , refusing to accept failure. It was as difficult as moving entire islands with nothing put a piece of twine. My heart sped up, bringing with it a mild pain, and I continued on with my efforts regardless.

Light pierced the darkness I had found myself in. Then came color. First green. Then brown and black. I found myself unable to decipher the blurry figures before me as the shades blended together, spinning in a whirlpool of confusion.

The colors settled down into recognizable shapes. I blinked slowly and they gained definition, becoming more solid and firm. Six figures hovered above me. Already I could tell that one was not like the others…that something was off. There were a couple more shouts, each one sounding odd and off-key to me. I felt as though my ears had been muffled.

I still wasn’t sure _what_ exactly I was looking at, though, because I could have sworn that…

A loud, excited yelp met my ears, and the figure unlike the rest went berserk. It tumbled around, jumping off of anything it could grab onto and generally making a huge mess. Once again there was yelling, the sounds still difficult to decipher, and the figure settled down and came back over again.

I blinked again, fighting the ridiculously heavy urge to keep my eyes shut. The world came more into focus, and what were once figures changed into…faces…

I took in the eager, hopeful expressions on my family and Astrid. Then I looked at Toothless.

 _I_ _’m_ so _confused right now._

With a soft wheeze I shifted, trying to squirm my way up to get a better look at my surroundings, because I was pretty sure I was in my house and that Toothless was inside it. So, clearly I had died.

There was a soft croon and several hands (and a paw) flew at once to pin my chest down.

“Take it easy, son,” Dad said, squeezing my shoulder.

Wait…why did his hand feel so _big?_ And why was I lying on my back? A sneaking suspicion rose within me. No. I had to know right now. I strained my arm, the muscle as rickety and unmoving as death, and forced my muscles to lift despite the agony it wrought.

I stared at my hand, my breath leaving me.

_No…_

The bed I was on compressed, and I wrenched my eyes away. Toothless had taken it upon himself to climb into bed, just barely squeezing onto it. He settled down on my right side, eyelids lowered, and gave a gentle purr.

I had to try several times, but I managed to rasp, “T-Toothless?”

He tipped his head to the side. Something sounding like a singsong rumble rose and fell in pitch, and his side-frills twitched up and down in tiny flicks. He was lying right next to me, barely an arm’s length away, and yet I suddenly felt blocked when I tried to read his expression. It felt like I was trying to decipher the face of a human from a large distance—I could see _something_ , I knew what the basic emotion was, yet I couldn’t pinpoint it.

Toothless made some sort of chirping noise, his brows scrunching up in confusion. I gave him a blank look; what the heck was up with all the useless sounds? Occasionally they were used as leading calls, but it’s not like we had our flare here with us. Why wasn’t he actually speaking?

And then, as abrupt as a lightning strike, I realized. So did Toothless.

My best friend’s eyes widened in horror, pupils becoming slits. He leaned up and observed me with wide eyes, wings unfurling.

I tried to pull our link forward, but clutched at emptiness instead.

_Oh, gods. No!_

 Toothless slammed his eyes shut, long lines breaking across his face and gritting his teeth. He leaned down and wrapped a paw around my shoulder, resting his head on top of mine. I found the strength to reach up with stiff, sore arms and hold him as tight as I could, swallowing a huge lump in my throat.

“It’s…it’s gonna be okay,” I lied. Toothless murmured something reassuring and equally fake in response. He buried his nose into my hair, shaking like a frightened hatchling.

I fell back against the bed, spent. The world fell into darkness, and it took several seconds for me to realize that my eyes had shut on their own accord. I felt someone grab at my hand, and forced myself to squint through the exhaustion up at them.

Dad paused, pain lacing his eyes. “I know that…this must be hard for you. I’m sorry, Hiccup.”

I squeezed his hand again. “No, I…I’m sorry, too,” I gasped. With what little power I had, I forced a smile onto my lips.

Dad’s face gave way to the tiniest of smiles. “I missed you, son.”

My eyelids fluttered again, sliding closed. This time I had nothing left to fight myself into the waking world, and felt myself sinking in the calm, peaceful quiet…

* * *

I came to in a heavy, stifling darkness.

My body felt as though I was burning, sweat sliding down my forehead and rolling onto the pillow. When I cracked my eyes open I was met not with light, but with continued darkness. A soft snoring at my bedside told me of my father’s presence, even though I saw nothing when I swung my eyes in his general direction.

Gods, I had forgotten how _awful_ human night-vision was. As a dragon the night had been more or less clear, just much less bright. But now, even though I was straining my eyes and knew he was there, I could barely make out Dad’s silhouette in the darkness.

I gave a deep sigh. What was I going to do? For so long I’d wanted this. Then I had been confused. Eventually I had feared this fate.

My chest ached, and I brought up a hand to clutch it. How were we going to move on from this?

Suddenly I felt so vulnerable. I was so fragile, and everyone knew it. I couldn’t even _sit up_. My bones were frighteningly breakable, my fireproof scales vanished, leaving me with no protective hide. I had lost the wonderful freedom of flight, the crisp details my senses gave to me, the companionship of my nestmates.

….I had lost all ability to communicate with Toothless.

Everything had changed forever.

What would the people of Berk think? Would they force Dad’s hand and lock me up? They definitely wouldn’t invite me over for dinner; under the Queen’s control, I had risen with so much infamy, it would be a miracle if anyone ever genuinely felt safe around Toothless or myself again. There would always be that sneaking suspicion that one day they would wake up to a village wrought with destruction and two dragons distant on the horizon. Before everything, the village hadn’t trusted me because I had become its failure. Now, it was because I had terrorized them and so many others.

And what about Toothless? What would happen to him? Berk was nothing but a place of bad memories for him—and the feeling was mutual. Even if I were allowed to stay, the villagers would not tolerate him living here. At least, not if he wasn’t being useful. And the last thing I wanted to see was him tied up as I had been, being used like he was nothing but a work animal.

I held an arm up to my forehead and huffed. My head hurt just thinking about all of this. I wasn’t ready—not at all.

Something on the lower end of my bed shifted, and a shape blotted out some of the light coming in from the front door. There was a quiet rumble, the sound of claws on a hard surface. Then I was poked in the face.

Toothless yelped when I flinched away in surprise. He began to make low, hushed noises that I knew where apologies, and I cracked a smile and lifted a hand up. There was a slight hesitation, and then a warm, smooth surface met my palm.

A second later, I was coated in dragon saliva.

“Ugh, _Toothless!_ ” I whispered, making a show of rubbing the slimy stuff off of my face. Oh, gods, it was sticking to my hair. The jerk chuckled, hints of two bright green eyes glinting in the darkness. I squirmed around to be able to face him…and…

…wait a second.

Even in the darkness I could see Toothless’ eyes widen. He drew closer, ears lowering.

The emptiness on my left leg was unbearable, like I’d spent a lifetime sleeping on it the wrong way. I lifted the blanket, and despite the little light that shone through the cracks of our old house, I knew.

Toothless pressed his forehead into my side, giving a low moan. It was all I could do to bring a hand up to grip at him, clenching my eyes shut.

Well, who needs walking, anyways? I could get a cool prosthetic, too, and make it badass and add a bunch of little trinkets and gizmos to it, and…and…

“You know what? Let’s get out of here,” I wheezed. Toothless jolted back, shocked, but I was already wrestling the blankets off of me as quietly as I could. The act in and of itself was exhausting—I felt as though I’d flown miles and miles and miles. Eventually I managed to get my foot on the ground and, leaning heavily on Toothless for support, stand up.

It hurt. It hurt so much. But we began walking, Toothless taking it slow and resting a wing on my shoulder while I held onto him and hopped along. The door looked like it had been knocked off its hinges and put back, and I spared it a confused glance before shifting it aside so we could get out.

The moon was low in the sky, and the sight of several dragons lying either on houses or _in my front yard_ nearly had me fainting. I blinked at them several times, mouth hanging open.

The elder Hum-Wing lifted her head. Her eyes shot open, and with a guttural snort she had our entire flare awake and rushing at us. Suddenly I was engulfed by the entire group as they surrounded Toothless and me, butting my chest and chirping and barking and squealing and making all sorts of sounds. The young Flame-Skin in particular decided that personal space was optional and seemed to think that I was in need of a bath.

“Woah! Uh, hey guys,” I managed to croak, nearly losing my grip on Toothless and holding up a meager arm in defense. They stared at me, eyes shining with light that would rival the moon behind them, and even I could tell that they were smiling. A warm grin slid across my face, and I said, “It’s really nice to see you, too.”

The elder said something, to which Toothless tipped his head to. He responded with a few grunts, and the rest of our little party nodded in solemn agreement.

I focused on the ground in front of us, fighting off the yawning pit in my heart.

Toothless nudged my side, bringing my attention back to the others. I gave him a small smile, to which he seemed to return. He lowered himself down until he was crouching below me and gestured with his head towards his shoulders.

“What, you got an itch or something?” I asked. He rolled his eyes and snorted and—oh gods no put me down _why?!_

It took everything I had not to flail in the Flame-Skin’s grip as he picked me up like a hatchling and set me down on top of Toothless. The young dragon looked pretty darned proud of himself, and I set him with a stern look. “I can walk on my own—woah!”

Toothless had decided to start trotting along, keeping a little bounce in his step. He looked over his shoulder to check that I hadn’t…you know…fallen off, and then smirked. I pulled on one of his ears as payback, even though I had to admit that this mode of transportation was significantly less painful. And faster.

Toothless took a turn off the pass and then grunted at our group behind us. They stopped following at once, although the Flame-Skin looked extremely reluctant as he fidgeted and clawed at the ground. I turned and gave a tiny wave at them, which was returned as well as dragons could.

“So…where we going?” I asked. I will admit that it was wonderful being under the open sky and breathing fresh air again. We kinda had limited time, though; if Dad awoke to both me and Toothless missing, there would be no time for explanations. I’d just started recovering from a battle that had killed me, and I just knew that one more ordeal would end up with Toothless either forced off the island or dead.

Toothless…well, he tried to explain it. I was quiet after the myriad of purrs of chirps, not sure how to respond, and for a second his shoulders fell and his paws dragged.

We went on in a comfortable, somewhat burdened silence. At first I was convinced he was taking me to the cove, but Toothless didn’t even try to go into the forest that held it. Instead he walked along the edge until we came across a cliff with a stream flinging itself off it in a tiny waterfall. The area wasn’t too far from Berk—merely a few second’s worth of flying—but it took several minutes to walk there. I could see the village illuminated in the late moonlight, a few houses lit with orange light as some workers decided to start the morning early. The forest behind us seemed much larger and imposing now, and the cliff gave an open view of the ocean. It almost felt that we were on a desolate island staring out into the ocean.

Toothless lay down and I slid into the grass, giving a soft hiss of pain. I put all of my body weight on his shoulder and gave a deep sigh, closing my eyes for a moment.

“Thanks for taking me here,” I said. Toothless rumbled, pushing against me and wrapping a wing around my shoulder. “So…what happened?” I shifted a bit so I could look him in the eyes and explained, “I mean, I know we killed the Queen and she dragged me down, but what after that?”

My friend’s expression went blank as he tried to work out how he was going to explain. He lifted his wing off and got to his feet, brows scrunched in concentration.

Then he stood on his hind legs, made _a lot_ of noise, and started clawing at the air like he was surrounded by angry bees.

“…uh…,” I managed to say.

Toothless shook his head in frustration. He swung around and then perked up upon catching sight of the stream. He scampered over and jumped right on into it.

“Well, I know you need a bath, but…” I laughed at the immediate raised eyebrow. Toothless splashed around in the stream for a second, fixated on the sediment. With a satisfied chirp he waded his way out and dropped something in front of me.

Alright, this was just getting more confusing by the second. “An earthworm?” I dragged out, raising an eyebrow. Toothless groaned and rose on his hind feet again, raising his claws and giving a long, angry hiss. He then dropped to all four feet and feigned terror, flattening himself to the ground with a shrill screech and “running away”.

I looked down at the earthworm…that he had gotten from the stream…and then back up to what I assumed was supposed to be Toothless reenacting something menacing.

It took several long minutes for me to put two and two together. “Oh!” I said. “I get it…I think.”

Toothless beamed, nodded at me to go on.

“Was there a parasite in me that made me sick?” I was pretty sure Toothless had told me about drinking “bad water” once, too.

He gave an obnoxiously long sigh and dropped his head. Alrighty…round two, then.

In the next several minutes Toothless returned to the stream, pointed at me and him together, came back over to me and pointed at the earthworm, then pointed at the ocean, then at both of us again, and then at the ocean again. By the time he was done my head was spinning.

“Why don’t you just draw it?” I asked, holding my head in a hand.

Toothless gave me a long, wide-eyed look. Then he groaned and mimicked my gesture, rolling his eyes and plopping in front of me. With a claw he began a clumsy, odd drawing of a creature that did kind of look like an earthworm. I was having trouble making heads or tails of it until he added two tiny but recognizable shapes of dragons next to it.

“The sea dragon!” I finally gasped. Toothless leapt to his feet and jumped around me in happiness. He seemed a little too proud, but hey, the guy barely knew what a pencil was. “So the Queen dragged me down, and the sea dragon saved me?”

Toothless stopped in front of me, pointing indignantly at himself. I grinned and amended, “ _You_ saved me, and the sea dragon helped?” He nodded, puffing his chest out. “What do you mean by that, though?”

Toothless smiled and hunched over, squeezing his eyes for a second and taking in a deep, long breath. He swung his tail around.

My heart stopped.

I gaped at the empty space on his tail. With shaking fingers I reached out, running my hands over where his tailfin had been—where it was _supposed_ to be!

Oh, Dragoness of the Moon! He’d…he’d…

“Toothless,” I croaked. “I didn’t want to do this to you—not again! I’m so sorry, I—“

Toothless rolled his eyes and slapped my arm with his tail, giving a passive wave of his paw and snorting. Stooping down, he rested a paw on my good knee and gripped it, a gentle smile reaching up to his eyes.

I wrapped my arms around his head, hugging him to my chest as tight as I could. “Toothless…thank you.” We pulled apart, and I rubbed a hand quickly across my eyes while Toothless pretended not to notice. “Alright…so…what about the nest? Why are they all here?”

Toothless cringed, ducking his head inwards and pulling his upper lip back. He pointed at himself and me, then adopted a snooty pose with his chin held high and paws neatly folded over each other.

Wait. What? “They’re here because of _us?_ Wait.” I held my hands up. “Are you saying that…they want us to be their Kings?”

He looked about as thrilled as I was about this development, but nodded all the same. I groaned, dropping my head into my palms. That was _way_ worse than I thought; the entire nest would be stuck here because of me!

 _And Toothless, for that matter_ , I realized with a burst of adrenaline. I sent the revolting thought to the deepest corner of my mind; that was something that we needed to deal with later.

“But then, what about…this?” I said, gesturing to all of me. I reached inside myself, pinpointing my focus on the center of my forehead. In place of where my magic usually resided was an empty space, like an egg that had had its contents taken out with the shell still intact. “I don’t…I don’t feel any of my magic anymore. Not even that other kind, that soul-magic.” The sudden loss sent an involuntary shudder creeping up my spine. It was like stealing someone’s shield, forcing them to remain vulnerable at all times.

Toothless paused, and then sank into a low bow, with his head nearly pressed into the ground and wings splayed out as far as they could go.

It was a bow so respectful that only one creature I knew had received it.

“The Queen…I know.” I frowned. “So she was the one who did this?” Toothless nodded. “Do you know how?” He paused, and then gave a very slow nod—he was hesitant now.

I scooted forward and leaned in. “Can you reverse it?”

Toothless’ eyes lowered and he focused his gaze on his feet. He brought a paw around my back and pulled me into a hug before leaning away and giving a tiny shrug and horribly fake smile. It was an obvious lie.

I swayed, nearly losing my balance. It was all I could do not to lose my breath by the awful news, to neither become enraged at the Queen nor the gods for letting this happen, or fall into a self-pitying rut as I had when my father had attempted to kill me. I clenched the grass in my hands and grit my teeth. My heart pounded and ached, each beat burning as though the delicate organ was grating across metal.

“What’s going to happen, Toothless?” I murmured. “What do we do now? Everything’s…everything’s so different now.”

Unable to bear the look on his face, I let my gaze drift towards the horizon. The sun wasn’t rising yet, but its light was seeping into the sky, lifting the darkness and bringing forth warmth. The moon was sinking into the ocean at a steady pace, gracing color into the otherwise black water.

Toothless lifted my chin up with his tail, and I couldn’t help but stare at the crippled appendage. I met his glassy eyes and they almost tore me to pieces. Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against mine, forming a Seal of Trust. We stared into each other’s eyes.

For the first time since I had awoken from my endless sleep, the pain in my heart subsided. It was replaced with a kind of warmth, one that came from the comfort of family and safety. Something inside me lifted itself to its feet on shaky, battle-weary limbs. This wasn’t the end of the world. No…it was the opposite.

We had survived the impossible. Now we just have to move forward.

I smiled. Toothless did the same. The anxiety and fear and sorrow began to drift off of me like fog in a gentle breeze.

And for the last time—or was it the first?—our link flickered to life:

_We_ _’ll get through it together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This, my wonderful friends, is the ending of I Hear Him Scream. Originally posted on fanfiction.net, it spanned 4 years. As you can probably tell, I underwent a lot of growth throughout writing this, both as an author and as a person. I want to thank you if you are reading it here, and I have an important note:
> 
> THERE IS NOW A SEQUEL TO IHHS: Echoed Songs! It is currently posted on my fanfiction.net account, and hopefully will be up here soon.
> 
> Again, I want to thank all of my readers for everything. I hope all of you have an incredible day.
> 
> Sincerely,   
> ~Rift-Raft


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